A man seemingly spotted a real life ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’ in an eerie picture he took when out walking in Dartmoor National Park.
Matthew Peek was out walking with his girlfriend when he snapped a large long-tailed ‘ beast ’.
But the 31-year-old didn’t notice the unusual creature at the time, and it wasn't until months later when it popped up on his photo memories that he spotted it.
The picture was snapped on Dartmoor, setting of the infamous Sherlock Holmes tale The Hound of The Baskervilles, which tells the story of a fearsome hound of supernatural origin that haunted the park.
Matthew said he thought it could be a ‘big cat’ because of its long tail, but his friends and family have suggested it might have been a dog, sheep, or an unknown creature.
Matt, a goods driver from Exmoor said: "I'm down at Dartmoor often, running or out for a walk but I haven't ever seen anything like this before.
"I was out walking last January and took this photo, I didn't even look at it until it popped up as a memory, and because it was on live mode I saw something move.
"I thought it could be a goat or a dog, but the tail looks like it could be a big cat.
"It's so weird to think I would have never known of it at all, and at the time I had no idea."
The photo has divided opinion online and amongst family and friends.
One local online said: "I fail to see anything remotely like a cat, big or otherwise."
Whereas others seem to recall other stories of similar sightings, with one man commenting: "It's a lynx, family of them been up there for years."
Matthew said: "I sent it to a few people and some people were like no it's a dog or a sheep, but others were convinced it's a cat.
"There's always been stories of cats on the moors, I'm not usually one to have an opinion on things like this.
"Growing up on Exmoor, I've never seen anything of the beast and when photos came up I never thought much of it.
"But now I'm not so sure. My professor saw the photo and told me that after The Dangerous Wild Animals Act of 1976, people with exotic pets just used to release them on the moors, so I guess it's not hugely surprising that some might still be out there."
