A WOMAN has reported a big cat running at her while she was taking her washing off the line in Corwen.

The woman, who lives in a hillside property near Corwen, claims the “large black creature” ran towards her at night on Monday, May 31.

Kim, who asked her second name not to be used when she reported her encounter to Puma Watch North Wales, believes the creature could have been a puma.

Kim told Puma Watch, the group set up to investigate and document big cat sightings in North Wales, that the beast stopped when it saw her before running away.

She said: “Going out to the washing line alone, I saw a large black creature running toward me (there were sheep lying down behind me).

“I was transfixed and just stared. It stopped when it saw me and turned around and ran toward the gate, not like a cat and nothing like a dog. I walked back as calmly as I could but I was shaking inside.

“I locked all the windows and left the washing outside, hoping it only comes out at night and thanked God I hadn’t gone the trees way.”

Tony Jones, founder of Puma Watch North Wales, said Kim first reported the encounter on the group's Facebook page.

He said: "Along the Dee Valley towards and beyond Llangollen, there have been multiple big cat sightings in recent weeks. At Cefn Mawr, a big cat was caught on camera on the banks of the River Dee. Within 48 hours, other witnesses spotted what could have been the same animal at Chirk McDonalds and near Oswestry."

He added: "Back in December, Corwen made the headlines after Dee Forbes caught a big cat on video. It was strolling along a heritage railway line in the town centre.

"Big cats such as pumas are solitary with a hunting range of dozens of miles. They’re mostly spotted in Snowdonia and the Clwydian hills but reports of sightings in urban locations some distance from these areas are becoming more frequent.

"As seen with Llandundo’s now-famous goats, who have taken to roaming the town’s deserted streets during the coronavirus lockdowns, it’s likely that the reduced levels of human activity over the last year is encouraging big cats to roam further from the hills into more populated areas."