A man who travelled from Leeds for a sunrise trip to Snowdon abandoned his hike after just 45 minutes, when he came face-to-face with a puma on the Crib Goch ridge.
Jacques Wood, 28, told press: “There is no doubt what I saw. I had driven down from Leeds as I have not done Snowdonia before. I set off at around 2am and got there at about 5.30am and set off. I had only been 45 minutes into the walk before I came face to face with the big cat.
“I was at Crib Goch and was about to set off again and I saw its feet. I rotated my head torch so the light would spread over a wider area. I saw two yellow dots and the light reflected off its eyes. I knew it was not a marker as it moved its head and I could then make out its silhouette. It was three and a half feet tall, four feet long and the legs were about three to four inches thick.
“I just froze. It was pitch black and I was on my own and felt vulnerable if I am honest. I started very slowly trekking backwards. I did not take my eyes off the animal. I was only 45 yards away from the animal and when I stepped back from it another 100 yards, it was still watching me.
“I got so far back and then, to be honest, I turned and ran back to my car. After a minute I got my laptop out and I searched what I thought it could be and I am pretty sure it was a puma.”
“For anyone who asks why I did not take a picture then I would like to see how they would have reacted if they were in my shoes. I was concentrating on moving slowly and doing as little in the way of movements as possible.
“I would say that I was a sceptic before and you will never believe it till you see it for yourself. There is no doubt in my mind what I saw.”
Full story: North Wales Daily Post
Image credit: Andy Harbach / CC BY 2.0