A teenager has spoke of his horror after he found a wild big cat’s giant claw marks – on his garden tree.
Sam Burne, 14, spotted the one-inch deep gashes in the bark of a Silver Birch.
There were around 25 slash marks – believed to be from a panther’s paws – stretching 4ft up the tree.
Sam and his dad Chris, 47, and mum Jo, 44, believe the cat climbed over their garden fence from nearby woodland in Coventry, West Mids.
Sam said: ”The marks in the tree are massive, you can’t miss them. They’re like something from a horror film.
”We’d been out in the garden the night before and they definitely weren’t there then.
”I was pretty shocked and quite scared to be honest. To think that something like a Panther is lurking around your garden is not pleasant.”
The claw marks are the latest suspected Panther links that have plagued the area in recent months.
Postman Andy Cox came forward to reveal that he had come face to face with a big black beast 2.5 miles away a fortnight ago.
A big cat expert then confirmed that another sighting had been made off the Kenilworth Road, just a few metres away from Sam’s house.
And an elderly couple last week claimed that their garden furniture had been torn apart by a wild cat.
The most recent sighting was from farm manager Sam Turner who said he spotted the animal on a Gibbet Hill farm 1.7 miles away.
Sam, who has a pet cat called Douglas, said: ”We’ve also got two pet rabbits in the garden and these panthers are pretty powerful.
”I wouldn’t particularly want the panther to start munching on them for tea.
”Now I’m wondering if he could be living nearby. We’ve got a couple of wooded areas near our house which is where he could be hanging around.”
Sam’s mum Jo, a school receptionist, said: ”The last thing you expect in your garden is a big cat or a panther.
”We’ll be keeping the two rabbits locked away nice and safety just in case it comes back.”