CHAP, iv.] WILD CATS. 39 



out hesitation at any person who approaches them, not waiting 

 to be assailed. I have heard many stories of their attacking and 

 severely wounding a man, when their escape has been cut off'. 

 Indeed, a wild cat once flew at me, in the most determined 

 manner. I was fishing at a river in Sutherlandshire, and in pass- 

 ing from one pool to another had to climb over sonio. rock and 

 broken kind of ground. In doing so, I sank through some 

 rotten heather and moss up to my knees, almost upon a wild cat, 

 who was concealed under it. I was quite as much startled as the 

 animal herself could be, when I saw the wild-looking beast so 

 unexpectedly rush out from between my feet, with every hair on 

 her body standing on end, making her look twice as large as 

 she really was. 1 had three small Skye terriers with me, who 

 immediately gave chace, and pursued her till she took refuge in 

 a corner of the rocks, where, perched in a kind of recess out of 

 reacli of her enemies, she stood with her hair bristled out, anil 

 spitting and growling like a common cat. Having no weapon 

 with me, I laid down my rod, cut a good-sized stick, and pro- 

 ceeded to dislodge her. As soon as I was within six or seven 

 feet of the place, she sprang straight at my face over the dogs' 

 heads. Had I not struck her in mid air as she leaped at me, I 

 should probably have got some severe wound. As it was, she 

 fell with her back half broken amongst the dogs, who, with my 

 assistance, di[>atched her. I never saw an animal fight so des- 

 perately, or one which was so difficult to kill. If a tame cat 

 has nine lives, a wild cat must have a dozen. Sometimes one 

 of these animals takes up its residence at no great distance from 

 a house, and entering the hen-houses and outbuildings, carries off 

 fowls or even lambs in the most audacious manner. Like other 

 vermin, the wild cat haunts the shores of the lakes and rivers, 

 and it is therefore easy to know where to lay a trap for them. 

 " Having caught and killed one of the colony, the rest of them 

 are sure to be taken if the body of their slain relative is left in 

 some place not far from their usual hunting-ground, and sur- 

 rounded with traps, as every wild cat who passes within a con- 

 siderable distance of the place will to a certainty come to it. 3 

 The same plan may be adopted successfully in trapping foxes, 

 who also are sure to visit the dead body of any other fox which 

 they scent during their nightly walk. There is no animal more 



