The Scottish Wildcat is a pretty impressive animal. Here are some cool pictures and facts to prove it…
Scottish wildcats are the only surviving member of the cat family native to Britain. They look like an oversized muscular tabby but with a thick blunt tail and serious attitude!
Scottish wildcats are closely related to the European wildcat from which they evolved but can weigh as much as 7 bags of sugar!
Fossil remains suggest that the biggest ever wildcat measured 1.2m (4 feet) from nose to tail and may have weighed 14kg (30lb). Now that’s one cat you wouldn’t want curled up on your lap.
The Gaelic for wildcat is ‘cat fiadhaich’, the phonetic pronunciation is ‘kaht FEE-uh-ich’.
Wildcats are shy, solitary and mostly nocturnal. They live in wild places and many people live their whole lives in wildcat country without ever seeing one!
Wildcats have extremely sensitive hearing able to detect the slightest movement of their prey. They can even hear whilst they sleep! And they have amazing night sight too - 7 times better than ours.
Wildcats mate in the depths of winter. Perhaps that’s why they’re so cool! The kittens are born about 9 weeks later and weigh in at just 120-165g - about the same as 3 chocolate bars!
After a few weeks of feeding on their mother’s milk she begins to bring back live prey to help teach them hunting skills. You’ve got to be cruel to be kind when you’re a wildcat.
It is said that wildcats are untameable even when hand-reared from kittens. They’re simply born to be wild.
Scottish Wildcats are real powerhouses - pound for pound they are as powerful as any other cat alive, including tigers! - and they have an explosive top speed of up to 30mph.
Their razor sharp claws are used to bring down their prey, which they kill with a lethal bite to the neck or by suffocation. It ain’t pretty but its effective. It’s what predators do.
Like all cats they are strict meat-eaters, consuming almost every part of their kill including the fur and bones. Unlike us they don’t waste a thing.
Wildcats are extremely agile, climbing trees with very little effort. They also have an in-built spirit level to precisely orientate themselves. Very useful if you’re 5m up a tree!
It’s tough being a wild wildcat, which on average only live for about 6 to 8 years. Whereas animals in captivity can survive for up to 15 years, about the same as a domestic cat.
Wildcats can mate with domestic cats creating fertile "hybrid" offspring, and this is currently the greatest threat to their future. It’s a bit like a poodle getting together with a wolf – bad news!
Stories of ‘big cats’ roaming the countryside may originate from black hybrids known as Kellas cats named after the village in Morayshire where they were first seen.
Celtic legends include a fairy cat known as the Cait Sith; a large black beast that Highlanders believed was the reincarnation of a witch that only appeared when bad things were about to happen!
Legend states that on first landing in Scotland the Picts were attacked by wildcats and they were so impressed by their fearless ferocity that the wildcat became their symbol.
Clan Chattan (‘Clan Cat’) includes many Highland clans who proudly display the wildcat in their heraldry to symbolize both independent spirit and ferocity.
Wildcat myths claim them to be man-killers and they have even been suspected as hanging from branches by their tails waiting to pounce onto unsuspecting passer’s-by!
Scottish wildcats are the only surviving member of the cat family native to Britain. They look like an oversized muscular tabby but with a thick blunt tail and serious attitude!
© All images by Peter Cairns & Mark Hamblin, Wild Media Foundation (www.wildmedia.org)
We must ensure that the enlightened attitude of most 21st century land and game managers, combined with more responsible domestic cat ownership, give our highland tiger a secure future.
