AN ELDERLY woman mauled by a big cat in the Highlands fears the animal could seriously harm a child if it remains free.
Pat Macleod, 74, needed stitches in deep wounds on her leg and suffered other cuts and scratches on her hands after being attacked.
Police and wildlife experts are trying to track down the cat and have warned people not to approach it if they see
it.
Mrs Macleod, from Alness, claims to have been attacked twice by the creature, the latest being last week.
Of her first encounter, she said: "A very large animal came bounding out of the shadows.
"It leapt at me, gripping my leg. There were punctures from its sharp teeth and scratches.
"I was knocked over by the propulsion of the beast and I thought 'how do I get rid of this animal?'
"I pulled over the dustbin for protection and the animal came over the top, gripping my left leg and the top of my right arm.
"I swear it was frenzied, spitting and growling. I would say from nose to the tip of its tail it was about 4ft long."
She said the grey cat had a dark stripe down its back, a long tail, large paws and a broader face than a domestic cat.
She added: "I'm not a weakling but, my God, if it attacked a child I can't bear to think what the outcome might be."
After the attack she went to Invergordon Hospital for treatment. She was still in bandages when attacked again several days later. On that occasion the cat leapt at her and grabbed her leg. It quickly ran off.
Experts say it is highly unlikely the animal was a Scottish wildcat.
A spokesman for Scottish Natural Heritage said: "It would be a big surprise if this was a Scottish wildcat.
"They are very elusive and keep well away from people. They are probably more scared of people than we are of them.
"It could be a hybrid, we want to know what it is and find it so it poses no further danger."
There have been hundreds of big cat sightings in Scotland over the years with claims of panthers, leopards, pumas and lynx all having been seen.
Between 2000 and 2006 more than 200 reports were made to Scottish police forces.
The campaign group Big Cats in Britain says it registers an average of three sightings a week in Scotland and believes there are up to 40 big cats roaming wild.
The group plans to set up a network of webcams to try to gain evidence of big cats.
BACKGROUNDACCORDING to Big Cats in Britain, the area with the most sightings is Grampian, with 55 between 2000 and 2006, while Fife had 42. Both areas are said to have relatively dry climates and wooded rural patches, ideal habitats for wild cats.
Other hotspots include Lothian with 30 sightings and Strathclyde with 27.
Most parts of the country have their stories of a "beast" being seen roaming wild.
This month a large black cat was reported on a beach in Banff. In November, sightings were made of a wild cat near the A75 at Carsluith in Galloway and the infamous Beast of Balbirnie in Fife, which is said to be a black leopard.
A woman reported seeing a "leopard-like" cat at Cruden Bay, near Peterhead, in October in the area renowned for sightings of the Beast of Buchan.
An animal resembling a panther was also reported in Monklands in September, while in July a large black cat was spotted in Forres.
Over the years big cats have also been blamed for the death of turkeys and ducks, and the disappearance of domestic cats. In 1998, a spate of sheep deaths near Inverness was attributed to a big cat.
The full article contains 649 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
