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Boy's Big Cat Fears By Eitan Grant

Paisley Gazette: 21st March 2007

The Paisley Gazette
   
A TERRIFIED young boy has refused to leave his home for the last month after hearing reports of a panther prowling around nearby woods.
Outdoors enthusiast Daniel Smith is so scared that he is going to be attacked by a big cat, he locks himself indoors every day when he gets home from school.
His distraught mum Jennifer Smith has been trying to reassure her son by telling him that even if there was a big cat living near to their Houston home, it probably would not go near humans.
She said: "I just don't know what to do. He is too scared to go out and I am worried about him."
The normally active 12-year-old, who enjoys snowboarding, has given up going out to play with his pals after reading about a family who saw a large cat like creature stalk and kill a deer in a location near to Linwood.
Daniel said: 'I don't feel safe going in the woods.
"When I get home from school I do my homework then play on the computer, but I won't go out because you just don't know what's out there.
"In the summer I will go out. There will be more people in the woods and more noise so that should scare it away.
"I started to become concerned when I read the article in the Gazette.
"Now it's starting to kill to eat deer, and a deer is the same size as a human, so imagine what it could do to one of us.
"About four months ago I saw something big and black walking about 50 metres away from the footpath and then afterwards, my friends and I saw its paw prints.
"Thankfully it didn't see us and we just ran away.
"I don't think about it all day but it is always in the back of my mind and at school everyone is talking about it.
"I do like big cats so long as they are behind bars and not wandering about on the loose."

Do you have any information on the above reports. Were you the person involved, or are you aware of any more sightings in this area. We would appreciate any information that you could give us.

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