A mother walking her dogs in a forest thought to be haunted was stunned when her pets suddenly stopped to stare at a 'creature' that some are claiming is Bigfoot.

Maxine Caulfield was strolling through an area known as Slieveanorra in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, when she claims her pets used their 'sixth sense' to seek out the figure among trees.

But it wasn't until she arrived home and uploaded the pictures that she and others noticed the spooky outline of what looked like a furry beast lurking in the woodland.

Ghost stories have been told about Slieveanorra since October 1942, when a US Air Force B17 Flying Fortress bomber crashed into a mountain there, killing eight of the ten people on board.

Maxine Caulfield, right, took this picture of 'a creature' that some claim to be Bigfoot, left

Mother-of-one Ms Caulfield, 49, said: 'I haven't got a clue what it is but when I saw it, it really freaked me out. It's not like anything I've ever seen before.

'The dogs are normally full of energy and never stop running but when we went through that part of the forest the just stopped still and stared in the same direction.

'It was as if they knew something was there. I couldn't see anything at the time but when I got home and showed people the pictures it was spooky.

'People were pointing out its face and saying it was Bigfoot. I've always been pretty open-minded about the paranormal.

'I don't disbelieve, and this has really reinforced my view that there could be something out there.

Ms Caulfield said she was walking her dogs, left and right, in the woods when they suddenly stopped to stare at the 'beast'

The mother-of-one also found a strange wooden cross with the date 31/03/76 inscribed on it, pictured

'The dogs were playing away in the snow but my German Shepherd's ears pricked up when she went through this section. It wasn't normal.

'When you zoom in it really does look the body of a beast. Along with all the other history and rumours about the place, it really makes you think.'

Ms Caulfield has also discovered a mysterious wooden cross planted in the forest with the date 31/03/76 inscribed on it.

She walks her dogs - German Shepherd, Roxy, and miniature schnauzer, Charlie - weekly through the forest, around seven miles from her home in Cloughmills.

The woods are said to be haunted since a US Air Force B17 Flying Fortress bomber crashed into a mountain there, killing eight of the ten people on board

Ms Caulfield said: 'I honestly didn't realise what was there at the time. I take a lot of pictures when I'm out with the dogs and this time I'm glad I did.

'I couldn't see what the dogs were looking at. I kept thinking: 'Is somebody coming? Am I safe out here on my own?'

'I put it out of my mind really and didn't think any more of it but it was only when I sat down and had a proper look at it that I thought it was a bit freaky.

'It's quite a remote area and it's got some history with old Irish clans too. There's a memorial to the air crash and I've found a wooden cross with a date engraved on it.