(Original Headline: Puma and cub spotted in Monifieth )
A grandmother was left startled by the amazing sight of a puma and its cub curled up in a tree opposite her Monifieth home on Saturday.
Mrs May Mulholland, of Panmure Street, was sitting in the living room of her flat at around 2.30 pm when her attention was drawn out of the window to a tree opposite her home.
She sat transfixed at the startling sight of a puma and its cub in the branches of a tree in the grounds of St Mary’s nursing home.
Mrs Mulholland said, “It had wrapped itself around the trunk—I could see its head sticking out and I could see its tail, which was really long and thin.
“It was a greyish brown that merged with the trunk of the tree. The cub must have been on its back. The cub was as big as an ordinary cat and had stripes across it.
“I have never seen anything like it before—I know they say the black lynx is going about but this was definitely a puma.”
Later in the day, Mrs Mulholland told her granddaughter Janey about what she had seen and the pair decided to report the sighting to the Scottish Big Cat Trust. The charity keeps a record of sightings on its internet site and there have been over 1300 in Scotland.
Mrs Mulholland’s experience is far from unique in Monifieth, with a number of reported sightings in the area in recent years.
Mrs Mulholland added, “Big cats have been seen at Ardestie, which is not far up the road from me, and they have probably come in because they’ve run out of good hunting.
“I phoned across to St Mary’s and they said they hadn’t seen their squirrels for two or three days.”
