38 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS. [CHAP. iv. 



CHAPTER IV. 



The Wild Cat: Strength of; Rencontre with Trapping tame Cats: 

 Destructivencss of Poisoning vermin Trapping vermin. 



THE true wild cat is gradually becoming extirpated, owing to 

 the increasing preservation of game ; and though difficult to hold 

 in a trap, in consequence of its great strength and agility, he 

 is by no means difficult 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 domestic 

 relative) he prowls far and wide, walking with the same delibe- 

 rate 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 cat when hemmed in or hard pressed are 

 perfectly astonishing. The body when skinned presents quite 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 birch- 

 woods 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 oriuin of 

 superstitious fears in the mind of an ignorant Highlander. These 

 animals have great skill in finding their prey, and the damage 

 they do to the game must be very great, owing to the quantity of 

 food which they require. When caught in a trap, they fly with- 



