THE WILD-CAT. 261 



The bait was half a hare, hung on a tree, the trap being set 

 immediately under. The person who went to inspect it 

 thought, when at a little distance, that a yearling lamb was 

 caught. As he came near, the cat sprang up two or three 

 feet from the ground, carrying the large heavy trap as if 

 scarcely feeling its weight. He would have had great diffi- 

 culty in killing it, had he not dodged round the tree when 

 aiming a blow. I have seen two males bearing the same pro- 

 portion to this specimen, both in size and fierceness of aspect, 

 as an old half-wild Tom to a chimney-nook mother tabby. 

 One of these was shot by a gamekeeper, when on a grouse- 

 shooting expedition, in a very remote range ; the other was 

 trapped near the top of a high mountain. 



Except in the depth of a very severe winter, the wild-cat 

 seldom leaves its lone retreat. Nothing comes amiss to it in 

 the shape of prey ; lambs, grouse, hares, are all seized with equal 

 avidity. The female fears nothing when in defence of her 

 young, and will attack even man himself. She generally rears 

 them in rocky clefts and precipices. I saw a couple of young 

 ones that were killed in one of the mountain cairns ; they were 

 nearly as large as a house-cat, although not many weeks old. 

 It was curious to see their short tails, and helpless, unformed, 

 kitten look, contrasted with their size. Several attempts were 

 made to shoot the old one, but she was never seen ; probably, 

 upon missing her young, she forsook the rocks. 



The wild-cat has seldom more than three or four young 

 ones at a time often only two. 



A sad and rather romantic incident connected with the wild- 

 cat occurred in 1840, in the neighbourhood of my residence at 

 that time. The farmer of Ben Ledi had detected some young 

 wild-cats among the massy precipices near the top of that 

 sublime mountain. One morning, after desiring his family to 

 tell his brother (who was expected from Edinburgh on a visit) 

 that he would be back in the afternoon, he left his home and 

 wound his way up to the rocks of the wild-cats' den. Not 



