The wildcat: last Scottish super predator
August 2008
Photo by Laurie Campbell
by Brian Adams
It was late, on a clear February night and we were driving home to Torphins from Banchory on the winding Glassel road when, where the road runs through Brathens forest, brighter than any artificial eyes set to guide us on our highways, flashed the eyes of something in the car headlights. We got closer and the form of a small animal lying on the road was revealed. “It’s a cat,” said my friend.
It was obvious that something was wrong and we stopped to see what we could do. It was a cat alright, and I gasped when I realised its kind: the great size; the thick, banded tail; the wide face and jaw of the creature that spat at me though hopelessly injured was, I was sure, the Scottish wildcat. Anchored to the ground by paralysed, trailing back legs, a lifetime of caution and avoidance of man had come to an end dazzled by headlights and under his wheels.
To encounter any animal in a predicament like this is sad, but this was different. Here, needing help from me, lay Britain’s only remaining super predator. Surviving the British wolf, lynx and bear, the wildcat walked this land for millions of years before mankind and the moggies he created arrived. I felt pity, of course, but in the presence of this creature I also felt humbled.
The nearest I ever came to seeing a wildcat in the wild was an offer 20 years ago from an Inveroykle shepherd who knew where to sit in his bashed Land-Rover and wait for one to show up. But he and Glen won at the Tain sheepdog trials that Saturday and his slide down the wall to the floor of the Inveroykle Lodge bar, glass in hand, told me that the moment was lost.
Foxes have always been my main passion, my having cracked the watching of them getting up to all of the things that foxes do at a place I lived in Buchan. I had the best seat in the house, too, when an otter fished at my feet in the Spey, where I rested on its banks during a trek along the Speyside Way.
A new-sloughed adder
There was also the eagle I watched feeding on a deer carcase by the side of the River Avon, long before it tumbled down to civilisation at Tomintoul. I had struck camp at Loch Etchican that morning and – gasping at the cold – was glad to drop down through the snow to the Shelter Stones and Loch Avon. A mile on, the coiled jewel of a new-sloughed adder lay on the pale April grasses. The trick is to be on your own: if you had been there they would have heard us gabbing a mile away and would have been off.
The wildcat is very rare and elusive and as still as I always was in the wild, I never came upon one in my treks. How rare is the wildcat and where about in Scotland are they present? The Scottish Wildcat Association has embanked on a series of awareness campaigns educating the general public and businesses about this most charismatic of animals, the threats it faces and solutions to those threats.
And surely the Scottish wildcat, our last large land predator, must be saved. The Scottish wildcat epitomises the wild spirit of the Highlands like no other creature. Pound for pound it is one of the most impressive predators in the world; intelligent, fearless, resourceful, patient, agile and powerful – until as recently as the 1950s they were still believed by some to be man killers.
The body is an evolutionary perfection; 18 razor-sharp retractable claws and rotating wrists for gripping prey and climbing trees, immensely powerful thigh muscles for 30mph sprinting; incredible stealth, balance and agility all wrapped in a thick, camouflaged and religiously-cleaned coat with one downy layer to keep in the warm and another outer layer to keep out the rain and cold. Infamously, the Scottish Wildcat is known as the only wild animal that can never be tamed by human hand, even when captive.
Having observed wildcats in captivity and having read enough about them, I think I know what to look for, but they do hybridise with the domestic cat and identification can be difficult. This has been a significant issue in their conservation. Imagine the gamekeeper’s predicament in glimpsing a cat on his grouse moor; is it a feral cat he needs to protect his grouse from, or is it a wildcat for which he could be heavily fined for shooting?
The most obvious identifier is the magnificent tail which is very thick and clublike, completely encircled by perfect black and brown rings, and finished with a large black tip. Then there is the coat: mostly brown with distinctive black tiger-stripes; thick and ruffled in appearance with few spotted markings or none at all. Pure white patches or spotted markings are primarily domestic traits; however, a few spots or a very small white chest mark may indicate only very minor hybridisation that will fade over a generation. Look also for the muscular, solid body frame, large jaw, wide head and muzzle.
Little is known about their population or distribution, but it is estimated that around 400 pure wildcats and 3000 hybrid wildcats live in the Highlands north of the industrial belt formed by Glasgow and Edinburgh. A survey is currently underweigh to establish more accurate information so that conservation efforts can be focused on the best areas. Previous research has utilised eye witness reports and thanks to the Internet this can now be tackled nationwide.
The Glassel wildcat
Another car stopped behind us on the Glassel road and a couple got out to see if they could help. Like us they were appalled and could see that this was no ordinary cat. The poor, crippled thing was still magnificent in its ferocity; the good, upper half still strong and poised, the head following our movements, snarling and spitting, promising serious injury to anybody foolish enough to attempt to lay a hand on it.
I put a stop to the suffering of the Glassel wildcat when another car came along and, to our horror, carried on over the cat delivering a second, crushing but not fatal, injury to the animal. I was then in no doubt as to what was required of me. Finding what I needed in the boot of my friend’s car, I went up to the cat and did the right thing for it in one blow. I left the body in the woods. I had killed many times before, but never like that or for an animal like that. We were very quiet for the rest of the journey home.
I reported the sighting – and death – of the wildcat to the Scottish Wildcat Association, who, may, given my confident description, have put my observation down as a ‘possible’ sighting. Since the survey commenced in March 2007 there have been 23 ‘possible’ sightings in Aberdeenshire.
If you have seen a wildcat in the last few years, can describe it in detail or supply a picture and give an accurate location of the sighting. the Scottish Wildcat Association would really like to hear from you. Please e-mail: sightings@scottishwildcats.co.uk or telephone 01350 727201. It is also important to report sightings of hybrids or Kellas Cats; their presence indicates wildcat genes, and possible pure examples in the vicinity. Your personal details will be confidential, although details of the sighting will be available to the reputable scientific community on request.
Take a look at the association’s excellent website to see a collection of stunning photographs that can not but inspire admiration for our native cat. They will also help in its identification should you be fortunate enough to spot one.
Brian Adams served an apprenticeship as a baker with the Northern Co-operative Society in Aberdeen, then worked for the SYHA as a warden. Later he trained in community education. He has written on native wildlife, World War 2 evacuees, and mental health.
This is an article from the August 2008 edition of Leopard Magazine. To read much more like this every month, see our subscription details.