THERE'S something out there say a couple whose pet cats have had their throats torn open by a mystery animal.

Jean and Ken Hopkins from Bradley Hill above Soudley say other cat owners should be made aware of the dangers after their cats Tibby and Smudge, disappeared just before Good Friday.

Jean, who takes up the story, says: "At about 1.30am I heard a commotion, what I thought was cats fighting. I went down thinking maybe one of our cats had come back. I put on the outside light and this thing, whatever it was, shot across in front of me. I couldn't make it out clearly, it went so quick, but it was dark coloured, not as big as a cat and lower on the ground."

The couple's third cat, Coco – mother to Smudge – was found up a nearby lilac tree.

"She'd been out there crying" says Jean. "When I caught hold of her she was really frightened, clinging to me."

The bodies of the two missing cats were later found a few yards from the couple's house, one headless and the other with its throat torn open.

"We'd had them since they were kittens," says Jean. "I hate to think of them being hurt. What a horrible way to die."

Ken who has lived in the Soudley Valley all his life and is an experienced countryman says he's convinced the animal isn't either a mink or a fox.

"It was too low for a mink and if it was a fox it would have grabbed whatever it could, the shoulders or the back. It has to be something low that goes for the throat. Hopefully we can let people know there is something out there and maybe they should keep their cats protected."

Ken and Jean believe the mystery animal is most likely a polecat – a native species similar to a ferret with which it will breed. After years of persecution, the polecat is known to have spread back into the Forest from Wales. A relative of the otter, weasel and stoat it is an accomplished carnivore and is undoubtedly thriving in the Wye Valley and Dean woodlands.

Suggestions that Pine Martens – elusive but close relatives of Polecats – might be back in the Forest have been dashed by wildlife experts.

After a long study, Lizzie Croose of the Vincent Wildlife Trust says there is no conclusive evidence of any martens in the Dean, although they are in the Pennines, Northumberland through to the Peak District, the North York Moors, Snowdonia and Carmarthenshire.