CHAPTER FOUR THE WILD CAT 



THE true wild cat is gradually becoming ex- 

 tirpated, owing to the increasing preservation 

 of game; and though difficult to hold in a trap, 

 in consequence ofitsgreatstrengthandagility, 

 he isbyno meansdifficult to deceive, taking any bait readily 

 and not seeming to be as cautious in avoiding danger as 

 many other kinds of vermin. Inhabiting the most lonely 

 and inaccessible ranges of rock and mountain, the wild cat 

 is seldom seen during the day time; at night (like its dom- 

 estic relative) he prowls far and wide, walking with the 

 same deliberate step, making the same regular and even 

 track, and hunting its game in the same tiger-like manner; 

 and yet the difference between the two animals is perfectly 

 clear, and visible to the commonest observer. The wild cat 

 has a shorter and more bushy tail, stands higher on her legs 

 in proportion to her size, and has a rounder and coarser 

 look about the head. The strength and ferocity of the wild 

 catwhen hemmed in or hard pressed are perfectly astonish- 

 ing. The body when skinned presentsquite a mass of sinew 

 and cartilage. I have occasionally, though rarely, fallen in 

 with these animals in the forests and mountains of this 

 country; once, when grouse-shooting, I came suddenly, in a 

 rough and rocky part of the ground, upon a family of two 

 old ones and three half-grown young ones. In the hanging 

 birchwoods that border some of the Highland streams and 

 lochs, the wild cat is still not uncommon, and I have heard 

 their wild and unearthly cry echo far in the quiet night as 

 they answer and call to each other. I do not know a more 

 harsh and unpleasant cry than that of the wild cat, or one 

 more likely to be the origin of superstitious fears in the 

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