INDIE the cat hunted down a rare beetle in a Bexleyheath back garden - but found she had bitten off more than she could chew.

The one-year-old was out playing while owner Donna Coe, 48, was hanging out the washing at her home in Marley Avenue at around 10.30am on June 25.

She noticed her pet playing with something unusual and the service coordinator at Rentokil in Crayford went over to investigate.

It turned out to be a fearsome looking stag beetle - the largest ground-dwelling beetle in Britain.

The mother-of-one told News Shopper: "Indie was playing and flipping over this thing that was huge and black.

"Then it played dead and I went back into the house as I didn’t like the look of it.

"I don’t like insects of any type anyway.

"I know it sounds really horrible but at the time I was hoping my cat would do something with it."

News Shopper:

Dan Coe with Indie the beetle-catcher and mum Donna Coe. 

The beetle turned out to be too strong for Indie and escaped before reappearing under Miss Coe’s kitchen window at around 5pm the same day.

Her son Dan, 20, was home from Bexley College by then and the graphic design student managed to catch the beetle in a Tupperware box.

Recognising it having seen one before in Erith, he recorded a video of the insect grasping a twig for dear life and released it the following day.

Your guide to stag beetles 

- Named because their massive jaws look like a stag’s antlers, the beetles are endangered due to loss of woodlands and open space in urban areas.

- The tidying of parks and gardens has also seen vital habitats brushed aside.

- They spend up to seven years as white grubs underground and emerge as fully grown adults in spring for the final six weeks of their lives.

The Great Stag Hunt

The People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) runs a Great Stag Hunt survey encouraging the public to record their sightings and post pictures.

A PTES spokeswoman said: "Stag beetles may look ferocious but they are quite harmless.

"If you find one you can leave out some pieces of soft fruit for the adult beetles to feed on.

"You should move it out of harm’s way under the cover of a shrub, for example.

"This will help protect it from predators such as magpies or cats.

"The best thing to do is to let them get on and find a mate."

Visit ptes.org for more information.