The physical evidence you should look for to confirm big cats are in Cheshire and Wirral

There have been a growing number of reports in Chester, Ellesmere Port, Heswall, and Frodsham - and the group set up to investigate such encounters has given advice on what physical evidence to look for.

And by physical evidence we mean, you guessed it, poo.

In one of the most recent reports, a member of the public reported spotting a black big cat they believe could have been a ‘puma’ limping down Kestrel Road in Heswall.

After hearing the sound of cats fighting around 2am on Sunday 15th August, Terry looked and saw the ‘large’ creature on the street.

A second sighting in Heswall was reported days later.

Previous sightings of big cats on the Wirral include Willaston, Prenton, Bidston Hill and Burton Woods.

Meanwhile, Chester and Ellesmere Port have become hotspots for sightings.

A mystery creature was photographed near the Deva Stadium in June.

Witness Matty Rodgers had just a few seconds to take a closer look at the creature and take a photo.

In his report, he told Puma Watch North Wales that what he saw was “undoubtedly a cat” because of its shape, colour and motion.

Tony Jones, founder of Puma Watch, said although the group was set up to investigate encounters in North Wales there have been an increasing number of reports from the Chester area.

Tony said: "The city is a hotspot for big cat sightings, with multiple clusters occurring over the last year. This includes one occasion where an animal was caught on camera on Chester Meadows by a delivery driver.

Some photographic evidence has been disproved as a hoax, such as a photo of Chester Zoo's black jaguar Goshi purported to be a black panther living in the wild.

Others have been found to be cases of mistaken identity, like mammoth moggy Sheldon who was proved to be the big cat caught on camera in Trelogan in Flintshire.

But the holy grail for big cat hunters is physical evidence.

That's why Puma Watch North Wales, the group set up to document and investigate big cat encounters, have shared some tips to help people identify if a puma is nearby.

Basically, how to distinguish big cat poop from that of a dog, fox, or other animals.

The group, founded by Tony Jones, said: "Have you ever been out in the countryside and found animal droppings (known as scat), but were not sure if they were from a puma, another big cat, or the droppings of some other animal? It’s a common problem, but there are a few simple ways to distinguish puma scat from that of other animals.

"Pumas leave three types of droppings: round, oval, and long. When looking at the shape of the faeces it is important to remember that foxes also leave droppings that are oval in shape!

"A puma’s droppings are usually a dark or light shade of brown, with the longer pieces being more coarse and often containing small amounts of hair."

The most common type of puma scat are the round droppings, the group adds.

The group added: "Puma scat is also often found on the tops of trees, whereas other animals such as foxes usually leave their droppings at lower levels.

"Foxes leave scat that is smaller in size than that of pumas, and would also likely contain black streaks and bits of fur. The colour will be grey-brown to white.

"Dogs leave droppings that are usually smaller in size and would be a pungent odour.