(Original headline: Big cat strikes again )
A big cat has struck again near Ellesmere and was watched by two brothers under lamp-light as it devoured another sheep.
Lee Wright, 26 and his brother Darren, 23, had been tracking the animal before discovering it on Saturday night eating a freshly-killed carcass.
This sighting follows last week's Chronicle story reporting the killing of 11 sheep at Sodyllt Bank – a remote hamlet between St Martins and Ellesmere.
The sheep belonged to farmer Ted Jackson who called upon the help of the two brothers to try and save his flock.
Lee, who recently moved from Baschurch to Oswestry, exclusively told the Chronicle how he came across the dog-sized animal and hoped to catch it to prove its existence.
He said: “We do a bit of pest control and Ted happened to ring us up and said there was a problem down there.
“We went out and saw it under the lamp eating a sheep. We then followed it, watching it with the lamp.”
“It was about the size of Labrador and I thought it looked like a puma.
“Pumas come in many colours from albino brown and black and the one I have seen is brown but it was about 11 at night.”
Lee is a mechanical engineer by trade but recently came back from Australia where he met a proficient trapper and pig hunter.
He has since sought advice from the expert of the best way of catching the animal.
Lee said: ”If we could catch him it would prove the countryside does have wild cats left over from the Dangerous Wild Animals Act introduction in 1976.
“Then it would be up to the authorities to deal with it.”
Farmer Ted Jackson confirmed that he lost another sheep over the weekend and revealed that the cat had also scared local pets.
“Cats and dogs that had been down near the field had come back terrified,” he said.
