Original headline: Furious farmers vow to kill puma on sight
Terrified residents today demanded a police marksman is brought in to track and kill the puma blamed for ripping apart an 11-stone ram at a Causeway Coast farm.
Thousands of tourists will flock to the north coast for the bank holiday weekend and locals fear children and visitors could be at risk from the beast.
Experts know that the animal, which yesterday morning ripped several pounds of flesh from a sheep's carcass, will be forced to strike again to stay alive.
The puma, which is a secretive, nocturnal animal, is expected to rest after its kill before moving on to seek out new prey.
Farmers now say the beast, which has been seen numerous times along the picturesque Antrim coast from Portrush to Portballintrae and has been identified by footprint casts, will be shot on sight.
Local people are terrified that a child will fall prey to the prowling wildcat, which had the strength to bring down a Texel ram near Bushmills.
In rural north Antrim, children as young as ten years old often help on farms during the summer months and farmers say they are not prepared to take any more risks.
Farmer Robert Calvin, who yesterday found his prize-winning ram horrifically slaughtered in a field just yards from his home, said local people were terrified.
"If this beast can bring down a fit young sheep weighing 80 kilos, what chance does a child have?
"I am advising people not to let their children out alone."
Late last night, farmers were locking their livestock safely in barns to protect flocks of sheep that are worth tens of thousand of pounds from the wild cat, which has been prowling on the north coast for two weeks.
The USPCA is now advising police that heat-seeking equipment and a marksman may need to be brought into the area to track the beast.
The entrails of the £400 ram were found scattered in a remote field at Castlecatt near Bushmills.
Small puncture marks on its neck consistent with teeth marks were clearly visible.
A local vet, who is experienced in treating wild cats at the nearby USPCA shelter, which is home to tigers and lions, said dogs had definitely not carried out the attack.
Robert Calvin, who is the group secretary of the Ulster Farmers Union, made the gruesome discovery at his farm yesterday.
"It's quite scary, the vet told me the puma could be in the bushes watching us.
"I worry about young children visiting the farm; we can't let them out to play until this thing is caught."
The north coast's puma has been spotted on numerous occasions during a two week period.
The last sighting was at Ballyhome outside Portrush, which is some five miles across fields from Castlecatt.
Experts have confirmed that the beast is almost certainly a puma or mountain lion, but as yet no-one has come forward to claim ownership of the cat.
This latest incident comes just days after the carcass of a calf was found in a field near Cookstown.
Although police believe wild cats were involved in both attacks, they don't believe it was the same animal.
FS note: I spent a year in Northern Ireland and recorded a number of similar sightings while based there. I was amazed to learn that, unlike the UK mainland, there were very few restrictions imposed at that time on anyone choosing to keep an exotic animal. Some of the methods used to keep these big cats restrained and not a danger to the public were at best minimal.
