Typically, the cart path system

in Peachtree City offers tame wildlife such as squirrels, birds and other

creatures as it winds through deeply wooded areas.

But Saturday, a potentially

more harmful creature reared its head on the cart path adjacent to Terrance

Tay near the Three Ponds area, according to a local resident. Don Campbell

and his 10-year-old son were returning from a fishing trip at the ponds

when Campbell spotted a large cat lurking between two homes off Terrance

Tay.

Campbell estimated it was three

and a half feet long and two and a half feet tall.

"This was no housecat,"

said Campbell, who once lived in Colorado and saw bobcats there. "It's

about the size of a medium-sized black lab not a puppy and not a fully-grown

one."

The animal's smooth tan coat

makes it seem that it's not a bobcat, he added.

"This thing has made a

home nearby and found a lair," Campbell said. "This is scary.

... I know I won't let my child walk alone to the ponds."

Campbell has been in touch

with the state Department of Natural Resources to alert them of the sighting.

A phone call to the police

emergency line when the wildcat was found "would've been a joke,"

Campbell said, noting that the department probably couldn't have been

of assistance anyway. "They probably had nobody they could call either,"

he said.

Campbell was upset that he

didn't have either his digital video or still camera with him so the animal

could be identified. He's even more upset that he didn't notice the animal's

tail, which would provide a solid clue as to what it is.

He did, however, speak to a

neighbor in the area who confirmed seeing the cat about three weeks ago.

A zoo curator Campbell spoke

with said the animal "could be someone's pet."

"It was not afraid of

humans, so it has either been domesticated or it has been around so long

it has become accustomed to humans," Campbell said.

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