THERE has definitely been a big, black cat-like predator living in the Hawkesbury and here's the proof. The Gazette has uncovered this audio file from a telephone answering machine and a picture as more people come forward with their stories of the cat-like creature.

The phone message was being left by Glenorie resident Conina Howard last Monday, September 14.

The Gazette has also uncovered this picture, taken by Blaxlands Ridge property owner, Renai Willoughby, who, with husband Morgan, witnessed a large black cat flee up a gum tree within 200 metres of their back door.

Ms Willoughby has only now decided to come forward following recent reports of renewed sightings in the area and the unconfirmed reports of large cat-like paw prints in Cedar Ridge Road, Kurrajong.

"I'm not saying it's a panther, but it does look like a bob-cat, it's not a household pussy cat," Mrs Willoughby told The Gazette, yesterday.

"The ears and tail were the things that got me. Its tail was very thick and got bigger and chunkier as it came around the tree...the pointed ears, thick body and the yellow eyes...it had no collar, it wasn't a nice homey pet." Mrs Willoughby, whose property adjoins the Wollomi National Park, took the shot on the afternoon of May 21, 2005, less than a year after her dog Wicky was attacked in the bush and heard unusual noises in the night.

"Wicky had his throat slashed straight down his chest, his stomach ripped out and his intestines were chewed up," Mrs Willoughby said.

"The vet said it didn't look like a dog fight, it was an attack by something intending to eat him."

A couple of weeks before Wicky's attack, Mrs Willoughby said she "heard an awful noise coming from the bush."

"It wasn't the sound of a shrieking fox, more like a cross between a tiger and a cat, a horrible growling sound I'd never heard before and I haven't heard since. It was a proper big pussy cat growl," she said