THE WILD CAT

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 March 1937, Page 3

THE WILD CAT

HIGHLAND STORIES. Had it not' been for the Great War the wild cat would probably be an extinct species in the British. Isles at the present day, writes Seton Gordon in the “Manchester Guardian.'’ In the summer of 1914 it was indeed on the verge of extinction and lingered only in a few of the glens of (he Central Highlands. During the war, the stalkers and gamekeepers of the Highlands, leaving their native glens to serve in the Lovat Scouts and other Highland regiments, were unable to hold the wild cat in check, and on returning (those of them who escaped death during those stern years) found that this fierce enemy of the red grouse had taken on a new lease of life. Since then it has continued to hold its own. and even to increase, although every man’s hand is against it, and is now reported in districts where a few years ago it was unknown. Since the wild “tom’’ cat mates on occasion with the domestic cat. there :are many “crosses’’ in the Highlands lat the present day. and by no means all reports of the capture of a wild cat refer to the true wild species. The tail of the true wild cat is thick to the tip; the'tail of the “cross” tapers at ‘the end. A man who„had great experience of this anima] told me an interesting thing—that, the intestines of the wild cat’were more than twice as long as those of the tame species. The wild cat is the only British animal which it is impossible to tame. I have spoken to several people who from time to time have kepi the wild cat in captivity, and they have all agreed that it was impossible to tame it. An interesting account was given me by an animal-lover who kept a wild cat for a year. One day he placed a mouse in the cat’s cage, thinking that it would be appreciated. To his astonishment the wild cat uttered a shriek of dismay and lied in terror round and round the cage from the mouse.' But when he placed a small bird in the cat’s cage the animal killed and ate it at once.

KITTENS AT PLAY. A delightful account was given me by a friend who during the Summer that is past came upon a family of wild kittens in a grassy hollow through which flowed a small stream, Growing in the hollow was a rowan tree, and l when, moving slowly, my friend looked; into the hollow he saw that a family j of young wild cats were playing there. I The kittens were amusing themselves! by climbing the rowan tree. One oft them would playfully cuff the other off the tree, then they would lie on the' ground, roll over and over, and bite! and claw one another in fun. After a! time my friend, to see what the effect would be, threw a. small stone into the tree. The kittens at once desisted from their game, looked inquiringly round about them, but never thought of Joking up. Since they saw nothing unusual they dismissed the alarm as imagination and began lo play once more. Attain my friend dropped a stone —this time a larger one—on to the tree. That warning of danger eould not he ignored, and the kittens made a dash for the ground, where | they "froze' in the long grass and I heather. Alter a lime, one by one, they recovered front their alarm, climb_ed the rowan tree again, and the fun was renewed. It was then that mv

friend saw what he supposed to be the mother of the family approaching. In her mouth she carried a rabbit, and although the human observer crouched motionless she either smelt him or in some way - sensed his presence, for. dropping the rabbit, she bolted from the place and was not seen again. On another occasion, in the same glen, a motor-car was passing along the narrow road after dark. The headlamps of the car showed a large wild cat on the road. The animal, apparently dazed by the brilliance of the lights, actually sprang on to Hie top of the car, thence, with a flying leap disappeared into the darkness. When the <ar reached its destination the marks < I the sharp claws of the wild cat were plain on the roof.

A STRANGE ENCOUNTER. A curious encounter with a wild cat was told me by a stalker of a certain remote deer forest where a pair of golden eagles nest. My wife and I had been photographing the eagles from a hiding-place built of heather. One frosty winter day when the ground was covered with snow the stalker happened to pass near the hide and, anxious to see how it was standing the winter storms, was about to lift he wire “door” at the back when lie heard a curious scraping noise inside and saw a. wild cat spring through the hole in the front of the hide made for the camera.

During a recent, conversation with a stalker I asked him if he believed that the wild cat was untamable. Me. replied that he did, and yet he thought that if a newly-born wild kitten were handled before its eyes were open it. might be tamed. He believed this experiment had never been tried, because of the difficulty of finding a 'wild cat’s litter at that early stage. But, he said, he had had a good deal of experience of the "crosses,” for in his glen the house cats frequently had families by the wild toms. These kittens were excellent mousers and ratters. and could he domesticated provided they were handled before the eyes were open: otherwise they were almost as wild as the wild vat itself. Deer swim easily from the coast of Western Scotland to the Isles, but it .would seem that the wild cat has no inclination to cross the half-mile of sea which lies between the mainland and the Isle of Skye, on which island it. has been extinct for a good many years. llarvie-Brown in his “Fauna of the North-west Highlands and Skye" ment ions that MacLeod of MacLeod himself trapped a grand specimen of Felts t'attis beneath Dunvcgan Castle about the year 1838. and (he same author wrote that Captain MacDonald heard the "Pibroch of the Race” (the pipe music, of the clan of the wild cats) when camping among the Cuillin Hills. ; but I doubt whether any of the present. generation has seen a wild cat I in the Isle of Skye. 1 The marten. Mustela marie, was

also on the verge of extinction before the war. Thanks to (he efforts of a friend of mine the marten is now increasing in tlm North-west Highland. Only just in time, this nature-lover rented a property where the marten lingered, specially Io afford the protection. Through his efforts the pine marten is now protected on 12 Highland estates. My friend says he lias yet to find Hie gamekeeper who has seen a marten kill game. Ils food in summer is mainly rowan berries, and it feeds mi toting rabbits and mice and is also fond of beetles and bluebottle flies.