(Original headline: Big cat is really a pussy )
Inverkip's killer cat could be a big softie, it is claimed.
The big black cat which is thought to have devoured a deer is not likely to attack a child according to wild cat enthusiast Sandy Smith.
It is more likely to run away.
Mr Smith, who has researched wild cats since he came face to face with one on the outskirts of Kilmacolm two years ago, said they would not attack humans except in exceptional circumstances.
He said: “Their senses of hearing and sight are five times greater than ours.
“They are going to be more frightened of you than you are of them.
“They will fear they are being hunted and will be off.”
He said a big cat can live off two rabbits a day.
He said: “They do bring down deer, but not to eat. It would be cubs playing.”
But he did warn people not to approach the animals, not to look into their eyes, to lift up small children and “make yourself look as big as possible”.
He said: “A big cat with cubs will be a danger if you go near, like a mother protecting her children.”
Landscape gardener Mr Smith, who is in the process of setting up an enthusiasts' group called Scottish Big Cat Investigations, spoke out after reading in Wednesday’s Telegraph about Inverkip hillwalker Archie Waddell's grisly discovery of deer remains.
He is hoping to meet up with Mr Waddell to discuss the case.
He said: “I want to investigate this.
“There is a breeding population of black leopards in this area.
“Ninety-nine per cent of reports turn out to be false, but I have seen a big cat, my son’s seen it and other people have seen it.
“I have nothing to lie about.”
Sandy was driving back from Greenock with his son and an apprentice when he saw a big black cat near Kilmacolm Cemetery on 24 December 2004.
• TWO pensioners reported a sighting of a big cat near their Kilmacolm home in September 2003. The animal, described as three feet long and as tall as a fully grown Labrador, tawny brown in colour and with pointy ears, was seen on the B788 between Cairncurran and Milton.
