IN recent months, there have been an increasing number of sightings of big cats in North Wales.

There have been sightings in Snowdownia, but there have been a growing number of reports in Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham.

From footprints at the I'm a Celebrity Castle in Abergele to video footage captured in Corwen and Pontybodkin, there is a school of thought that there could be a small population of big cats in North Wales.

There have been sightings in Chirk, Corwen, Mostyn, Talacre, Rhyl, Connah's Quay, Mold, Buckley, Ruabon, Cefn Mawr, and more.

It led to the Welsh Government, after calls from North Wales politicians, to confirm it would responded to sightings and investigate any reported to them if necessary.

Some photographic evidence has been disproved as a hoax, such as a photo of Chester Zoo's black jaguar 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.

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.