A mysterious beast attacking residents has revealed to be a domestic cat with an attitude problem.
The neighbourhood of Suwannee, Florida, US, has been terrorised in the last week after two people were rushed to hospital in separate attacks.
One resident was exercising when they were attacked, and the other was ambushed by the feline when they were walking down a street.
Both received injuries which were serious enough to need hospital treatment, according to officials.
Police had laid down traps for the feline but were unable to catch the animal.
It prompted the office's animal control unit to remind residents to be “mindful of the feral cat or any other animals in the area that present signs of rabies”.
Sheriff Sam St John posted on their Facebook page: “During two separate incidents, residents exercising and walking on 174th Street were attacked by a feral cat. Both residents received injuries serious enough that they had to seek medical treatment at local hospitals.”
Police have refused to issue a rabies alert “due to the cat not being captured and not being able to confirm if the cat has rabies or not”.
A deputy revealed he was "hopeful" of catching the animal in the coming days but in the meantime, residents are still scared to leave their homes.
Locals in Luraville, 17 miles south-west of the county seat, Live Oak, need to exercise “extreme caution” when outdoors, according to the sheriff.
Residents have criticised officials for failing to include a basic description of the cat's size or colour with many scared it could lead to "open season" on any cats found outside.
The sheriff's office admitted that until the cat is trapped they are unable to say if the animal is feral, or whether it has recently escaped a house, or infected with rabies.
It comes after a family were reunited with their lost family cat after six years and 1,500 miles.
Denise Cilley, from Marine, was stunned to get a voicemail which said her cat, Ashes, had been found in Florida - despite the family living thousands of miles away.
Ashes went missing in 2015 during her daughter's 10th birthday celebration.
The family feared the worse for Ashes and despite multiple attempts to raise awareness she was never found.
Janet Williams, a family friend in Florida who took temporary custody of the cat, told WABI-TV: “They looked for her for quite a while, and they sadly concluded she probably had become prey for a predator.
Fortunately, a vet found the cat's home after an implanted microchip - but it remains a mystery how she ended up in Florida.
“I have interrogated her quite strictly and she is not talking,” Ms Williams said.
Ashes was returned to her family in Maine and is said to be in a healthy condition.
