(Original headline: BIG CAT WORRIES )
Cat lover David Booth believes he has found the first hard evidence of a black panther roaming the county - a huge paw print.
Mr Booth (45) came across the distinctive mark in a field between his home off Brant Road and Bracebridge Heath, near Lincoln.
The former soldier was out looking for his domestic cat Felix when he spotted the unusual indentation in the mud.
Mr Booth was surprised by the size of the print in the field and took a picture of it with his digital camera.
But he was even more amazed when he compared the print to other paw marks on the Internet and found it matched that of a panther.
"I'd heard about the sightings of the panther when Felix went missing and I was worried for his safety," said Mr Booth, of Parker Crescent.
"I went into the field thinking he could have strayed there and that's when I saw the paw marks. There were quite a few scuffed ones and one mark which was very clear. It was bigger than my hand, around five inches across, and didn't look like a dog's paw.
"When I put my hand over the paw mark it was so big I couldn't cover it."
And he's not the only Lincoln resident who believes a panther is stalking the land.
Mark Coe (38), who lives near Mr Booth in Broughton Gardens, off Brant Road, claims he saw the panther as he hung out his washing.
"It was early in the morning about a week ago and I was hanging the washing in the garden which backs on to the fields," said the factory operator.
"It was only around 20 metres away from the fence and seemed large and had a very long curved tail. It was at least as big as a dog but moved very differently.
"It looked right at me so I went to get a camera but when I got back outside it had gone.
"I know what I saw and it definitely wasn't a dog - it had bright eyes and a long tail."
Lincolnshire Police wildlife officer PC Nigel Lound said he would send Mr Booth's paw picture to be inspected by the national registrar for exotic animals Terry Hopper.
"We had no sightings of big cats in Lincoln reported to us in Lincoln in March," said PC Lound.
"And there were only two sightings in other parts of the county. The print needs to be examined by an expert before it can be authenticated."
