North Antrim 'Big Cat' Spotted Again.
THE elusive 'Big Cat' which is on the loose in North Antrim has been spotted again.
Bushmills woman Catherine Henderson contacted the TIMES on Thursday after her eldest daughter Rebecca (8) saw the animal - believed to be a Puma - last Monday evening.
Catherine - who lives at the Castlenagree Road in Bushmills - said: "We were driving home from work in Coleraine to Bushmills along the Cloyfin Road when Rebecca screamed 'I saw the big black cat.'
"It was around 5.45pm and we pulled over in the car at the staggered junction which has turn-offs for Portrush and the road leading to Ballyrashane Creamery.
"My husband was with us as well and we got and it was just standing there in the field looking at us. It was only a short distance away from us but it wasn't one bit troubled that we were there.
"Another car pulled over and a man told us that he had saw the cat the same morning at the Straid Road," Catherine added.
"I rang the police but they still hadn't arrived after some time, so I rang them a second time."
Catherine described the cat - said to have belonged to a private owner - as being a dark grey colour with a very long tail which curled slightly at the end.
She continued: "When the police finally arrived two of them stood on the main road while the other two and my husband went into the field.
"The cat had disappeared into a hedgerow and then came out the other side. Eventually it vanished out of sight and that was it. If the police had arrived soon after I contacted them they would have got it.
"They were armed with shotguns and I asked them would they not use tranquillisers, but they said if they were close enough to it they would shoot it."
A large number of spectators had gathered by now and while some had cameras, it is not believed that anyone managed to snap a picture of the cat. "There was quite a few people who had pulled up to see what was going on but at this stage the cat had gone and the police were just looking around the field for it," Catherine added.
"I think a woman from Portballintrae and a man who works in Ramages hardware store in Bushmills saw it as well."
. A police spokesperson refused to confirm or deny the story "in the interests of public safety."
The Ballymoney Times: 23rd September 2003