``It was just before nightfall on Wednesday, January 23,'' Mr Illingworth said.

``When I first saw it, it was 40 paces away.

``I was walking along with the wheelbarrow, with my eyes down towards the ground watching for snakes.

``In my higher peripheral vision I saw a movement so I raised my gaze to see an enormous black cat coming towards me.

``I was very frightened.

`` I stopped in my tracks.

``The creature was moving at a speed faster than a walk but slower than a run a sort of jog.

``I think we perceived each other at the same moment.

``It turned to its left and moved over to a steep slope down to the creek.

``At that stage, most of it was obscured by a bush, but its hind legs and tail remained in full view for about three or more seconds.

``The top of its back was level with the bush it was standing behind.

Mr Illingworth later measured the bush at 61centimetres high.

``The most unforgettable thing was its tail, about a metre long, no noticeable taper and perhaps two inches in diameter.''

Mr Illingworth's sighting was the 312th in NSW, according to Chris Coffey, of Grose Vale, who has seen big cats on five occasions in the last 10 years.

``I knew it was genuine because his measurements [of the cat] were spot on,'' she said.

Mr Illingworth, 67, said his eyesight ``works'' and he had not been drinking.

``The reality is in the worst-case scenario: that animal could have killed me,'' he said. ``It would have been in the order of 80 to 90 kilograms.''

Report sightings to Mrs Coffey on 45721291 between 7am and 5pm.