‘Puma’ spotted in Ballymoney

Thursday, 5 March 2009

A LARGE cat like animal which was spotted up a tree in the Charlotte Street area of Ballymoney recently is believed to have been a puma.

It has been a number of years since previous reports of 'large cat-like creatures' roaming the North Coast area and The Chronicle can confirm that those animals reportedly seen at the time were never captured.

The area in which the 'puma' was spotted last Thursday is within a short distance of several schools where hundreds of children play daily.

Mrs Carmel McCallum, a mother of two, told The Chronicle how she and her husband Walter saw something big and black up a tree in the field at the bottom of their garden and went to investigate.

She said: "We were looking out the window at the back of our house and I saw something black up the tree in the field behind the garden. I realised it was far too big to be a bird so we went outside so we could get a closer look.

“It was definitely a huge cat-like creature. It had a big wide cat-like face and a really long tail. We couldn't believe it when it turned around and we were able to see its face, it had a huge back and when it turned round it stumbled down the tree and disappeared."

She said that she was so excited she never thought to be afraid, adding: "I just wish I had've had a better pair of binoculars and a better camera! We were both taking turns to climb up a ladder in order to get a better look. You know, on first appearance I thought it was a bear, but when we saw the face and the long tail, my husband and I were convinced it was a puma.

“We contacted the police who contacted the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (USPCA). Two of their officers came out on Friday and when they heard our description they seemed to think it was possible that it may have been a puma."

There have been a number of reported sightings of pumas or big cats in the area in the past couple of years, but none as recently as this one by Mrs McCallum. It is also thought that no puma, until now, has ventured in as close to a town as this one is thought to have done. In August 2003 police received reports of more than 20 sightings of a 'big cat' loose on the North Coast. Then in September 2003 it was reported that a panther and a puma were at large in the North Antrim area a USPCA spokesman today confirmed that they were never caught. He added that the only 'big cat' ever caught in NI was a 'Lynx' which was shot in Omagh, Co.Tyrone years ago.

A USPCA spokesman said that two of their officers had been to the Charlotte Street scene on Friday, adding: "I can confirm that two of our officers visited Charlotte Street on Friday and took a look at the photograph. It was very distant so we can't give a definitive decision that it was in fact a puma, it was quite a distance away and the pictures weren't very clear. But in circumstances like this we like to keep an open mind. Yes, we have had reports of pumas in the Ballymoney area in the past but we haven't had any calls in a while."

http://ballymoney.thechronicle.uk.com/articles/news/5494/puma-spotted-in-ballymoney/