Fresh Sightings Of Ardrossan Big Cat
A big cat that terrified residents of a coastal town has again been spotted prowling the Ayrshire countryside.
More people have come forward to report sightings of the animal, possibly a puma, which triggered an alert and a police search in Ardrossan this week.
Police officers spotted the creature on Monday and now other eyewitnesses have come forward to say they also have encountered a large cat.
A similar animal was reported once before the police sighting and then again on Christmas Eve. On December 18 a motorist reported a large, brown cat-like animal running across the A737, half a mile from Dalgarven Mill and heading towards Dalry. The sighting was brief, lasting only seconds. Then, on Tuesday at around 8pm, three people in Beith reported a large black cat on the outskirts of the town.
The police were alerted early on Monday morning by householders in Aitken Place, Ardrossan, who reported screaming and screeching sounds from waste ground near a railway line. The officers later reported seeing a large, dark-coloured animal with yellow eyes which quickly fled into undergrowth.
A warning was issued locally, urging people to steer clear of any animal sighted. Strathclyde Police said yesterday they had considered calling out the force helicopter to scour the area but it had not been immediately available the following morning. The force said no further sightings had been reported to them.
However, the fresh sightings have been reported to the Scottish Big Cat Society and yesterday its spokesman, Mark Fraser, said that throughout the year reports of a large, brown cat-like animal had been coming in from towns including Johnstone and Paisley. He said: "We have even had one gentleman who claims that he has seen the cat with a cub."
Referring to the recent sightings he said that the December 18 sighting lasted only a matter of seconds.
The Beith incident happened at about 10pm on Tuesday. Mr Fraser said: "Details of this are sketchy as the witnesses involved telephoned briefly. I hope to talk to them after the festivities are over."
The number of reported sightings of big cats - usually puma, panther or lynx - in Scotland is soaring, according to the society and experts suggest that as many as 70 big felines exist in Britain.
The British Big Cats Society said 800 animals, including pumas, black panthers, leopards and so-called Fen tigers were seen in the UK last year.
• Story originally published by:
The Herald / Scotland | James Freeman - Dec 27.02
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