A WOMAN farmer whose husband is a vet and who herself has undergone vet training has sparked a new 'panther' hunt after finding dung and mysterious scrapings in her garden.
The woman, who did not want her identity revealed, said a gully near the back of the garden of her home, near Littledean, was overgrown and "anything could live there".
She has contacted Forest 'big cat' expert Danny Nineham after finding the scrape and dung in her garden for the second time since last autumn.
"It is far, far too big to be a cat, and there are big paw prints round it, as if it has been squatting just like a cat," she said.
She said her dogs sometimes "went mad" in the night, but as they were fairly deep in the country any wild animal noises might set them off.
Mr Nineham told the Review he was collecting samples of the dung and would take photographs at the scene. This would add to his growing amount of evidence proving the existence of the beast, which he believes to be one of several large wild cat-like animals with wide territories.
The sample will be going for tests, as was a sample collected near Little London a few months ago following an attack on a pet dog which was suspected to be a victim of a big cat.
"It takes a long time, unfortunately, but we will get there in the end," said Mr Nineham, who plans to eventually track down one of the animals and capture it to prove once and for all that the cats are at large.
"I have the right dogs now and a number of volunteers who we can mobilise to hunt a cat. However, I am having trouble getting permission to use a tranquillising gun," he said.
He said the woman did not want the location named and he always made a point of not pinpointing finds to avoid "gung ho" hunts by people who were not qualified and who might obscure the trail.