202 ODD HOURS WITH NATURE 



rabbits harm, for ,if they were more abundant 

 than they are they would be a nuisance." 



Talking about reports of the killing of wild 

 cats, this keeper, like his neighbour down the loch, 

 said that those who most often got cats never 

 thought of " putting it in the papers." " But," he 

 went on, " I remember one in this district that was 

 put in the papers. It was captured by the hotel 

 people. They were bothered by some animal 

 killing their hens, and thought it was a fox. So 

 traps were set, and the very next morning a big 

 wild cat was found with its fore -feet in one and 

 its hind-feet in another. It was taken into the 

 kitchen, held at both ends with the cords of the 

 traps ; but even in that state it nearly frightened 

 the girls out of their wits with its ferocious ways. 

 We carried it over and threw it into the kennel to 

 try the dogs on it, but, notwithstanding the traps, 

 it left its mark on them before they killed it." 



Wild cats may abound in a wild bit of country 

 and never be seen even by those whose business 

 it is to daily perambulate the ground. They keep 

 to their lair among the rocks and bracken during 

 most of the day, and do their hunting at night and 

 in the morning and evening twilight. Even if 

 they do happen to be abroad in daylight, their 

 movements are so stealthy that they are with diffi- 

 culty observed, and in their natural surroundings 

 their colouration is protective in a marked degree. 

 In this latter respect they are strikingly different 

 from the fox, which inhabits the same kind of 

 country, and whose bright yellow coat is in almost 

 startling contrast with the dark rocks and heather. 



