THE WILD CAT. 1 1 



The Wild Cat, Felis cattis, Linn., 



Cannot be given with certainty as a native animal. 



I have received communications from correspondents mentioning the 

 existence and occasional capture of tvild cats, in various parts of Ireland, 

 but I do not consider that we have yet sufficient data for including Felis 

 catus in the Irish catalogue. As remarked by Bell, in his " History of 

 British Quadrupeds," p. 179, — "In stating the localities and estimating 

 the numbers of this species, it is necessary to guard against confounding 

 with it the numerous instances of escaped domestic cats returning to a 

 state of almost absolute wildness, breeding in the woods, and feeding on 

 birds and small quadrupeds. These, though far less powex'ful than the 

 true wild cat, are very destructive to game of every description, and, still 

 retaining some traces of their old domesticity, they often revisit the farm- 

 yard and carry off the poultry." In reference to the same subject, A. E. 

 Knox, Esq., in his Avork entitled " Game Birds and Wild Fowl ; their 

 Friends and their Foes," adds : — ■" Gamekeepers need not be told that a 

 more incorrigible poacher does not exist than a common cat which has 

 been bred in the woods, or Avhich, although originally an efficient mouser 

 and a useful occupant of the barn, has gradually acquired the habits of a 

 vagrant. The strength and size which a male cat will sometimes attain, 

 under such circumstances, is extraordinary, although he never arinves at 

 the proportions of his irreclaimable congener." 



The following memoranda will put the reader in possession of the prin- 

 cipal evidence which has come under my observation in favour of the ex- 

 istence of the true wild cat in Ireland : — 



In Bell's " British Quadrupeds," above quoted, it is stated, in reference 

 to the distribution of this species over the British Islands, that it " is now 

 almost entirely restricted to Scotland, some of the woods in the North of 

 England, the woody mountains of Wales, and some jxirts of Ireland." No 

 further particulars as to localities are given. 



Sir Wm. Jardine informed me, by letter dated 23rd October, 1837, that 

 the wild cat is found in Erris (Co. Mayo), and that a specimen obtained 

 there, within a few years previously, was then in the possession of Mr. St. 

 Clair O'Malley, Lord Lucan's agent. This information was derived from 

 Sir William's brother, when stationed with his regiment in the West of 

 Ireland. 



The author of " Wild Sports of the West " (letter 33) describes wild cats 

 as killed in Erris, and properly distinguishes them from tame cats run wild. 



A. E. Knox, Esq., in his work already quoted, says (p. 253), — " Al- 

 though comparatively rare in Ireland, the species still exists among some 

 of the mountains of Connaught." I have since learned from that gentle- 

 man that Maxwell's " Wild Sports of the West " was his authority. 



J. V. Stewart, Esq., has included the wild cat in his catalogue of the 

 mammalia of Donegal. 



Mr. W. Andrews stated, in 1842, that in the glens of Caragh (Co. Kerry) 

 it is known to the peasantry, who call it by an Irish name, signifying 

 ^^huntimi cat.'' — (See Saunders Newshtfer, Dec, 1842.) Mr. II. Chute, 

 of Blennerville, in that county, Avas not, however, aware of the existence 

 of this animal in 1846, although he had no doubt that it "was a native 

 at one time, particularly about Caragh liake." 



In the "Larne Journal," Feb., 1839, p. 29, it is stated that "the wild 

 cat is found in Tollymore Park, near Sleive Donard, and is also said to 

 frequent the caves on the shore at Ballintoy ;" but, on questioning Mr. 



