Reports of Panther in La Quinta

California Fish and Game officers searched today for what one resident described as “a large, panther-sized black cat,” on the roof of a local residence, a sheriff’s investigator said.

The cat was spotted at about 8 a.m. Saturday morning in the 78,000 block of Calle Remo in La Quinta, said Investigator Matt Diaz of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. “They said it was much larger than a house cat and looked more like a black panther,” Diaz said.

Sheriff’s deputies and Fish and Game officers searched several hours, but were unable to find the animal. A neighbor advised deputies that a similar cat was spotted on the La Quinta Dunes Golf Course last week, Diaz said.