THE WILD -CAT. 195 



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. In- 

 habiting the most lonely and inaccessible ranges of rock and mountain, the Wild Cat is 

 seldom seen during the daytime ; at night, like its domestic 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 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 ones. 

 In the hanging birch woods that border some of the Highland streams and rocks, 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 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, without 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 passing from one pool to another, had to climb over some 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. I had three 

 small Skye terriers with me, who immediately gave chase, and pursued her till she 

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

 of her enemies, she stood with her hair bristled out, and spitting and growling like a 

 common Cat. Having no weapon with me, I laid'down my rod, cut a good-sized stick, 

 and proceeded 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, despatched 

 her. I never saw an animal fight so desperately, 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 his residence at no great distance from a 

 house, and, entering the hen-houses and out-buildings, 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 

 surrounded with traps, as every Wild Cat who passes within a considerable distance of the 

 place will to a certainty come to it. 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." 



Although so scarce in these days of allotments and railways, the Wild Cat was once so 

 common in England as to be an absolute pest, and was formerly numbered among the 

 beasts of chase that contributed to the amusement of the dull unlearned leisure which fell 

 to the lot of those olden aristocrats of our land whose only excitement was found in the 



