Video footage may have captured the moment the controversial St Albans Big Cat entered a back garden filled with rabbits.
Former sceptic Olly Fairbrother and his wife Natasha have released a new recording, captured on March 14, showing a spotted feline dashing up and over their garden fence.
The couple, who keep lots of small animals such as 26 rabbits and some guinea pigs, said chicken wire has, until now, stopped the cat gaining entrance to the property.
Outwitting the protection, it instead ripped a large section of bolted corrugated plastic from the roof of an enclosure - something Olly believes a domestic cat would be unable to do.
Natasha, who has spotted the animal three times now from about six to 10 feet away, said its body was about three feet long and came up to her knee.
Olly said: “I am not a big cat expert so I really don’t know, and I’m sure there is a logical explanation, but I’ve seen the video and know how shaken Natasha is by it.
“It is not one of those in-the-distance sightings, and I know you can get big domestic cats, but this is big.”
Their property, which formerly housed an animal boarding business called Fairbrother Farm, is opposite Oaklands College - where in January 2017 staff members also reported seeing a big sandy cat.
There is another video of the supposed big cat which was captured in June 2017 by a taxi driver along Napsbury Lane at about 4.30am.
Olly added: “If there is an explanation, that might also explain the sightings at Oaklands College too.
“I saw that video the taxi driver took and to me, that looked like a normal cat - but he obviously thought it was huge and we never got the perspective.
“It is hard to get across when it is something of that size. For us, something of that size is a concern.”
With a three-month-old baby, the couple are “petrified” to keep windows open in case it returns and harms the youngster.
There is much debate about the existence of a supposed big cat, with staunch critics up against a wave of reported eye-witnesses.
A Freedom of Information request in November 2016 revealed that Herts police received about 30 big cat reports in the five years previous.
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