UK Wildcat Call?

widu13

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 9, 2008
2,334
19
Ubique Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt
guignashowpic small.jpg

What's that one. I saw two of those in the NE Highlands and just presumed they were wildcats? About twice as big as a domestic cat?
 

Adze

Native
Oct 9, 2009
1,874
0
Cumbria
www.adamhughes.net
Nice photo, now all we have to do is stick a very long & bushy white tipped tail on it & we may have our mystery cat :)
Can't find a pic of one with the tail showing for some reason... mebbe they're not vietnamese at all and they're actually manx fishing cats?

Given that it's Surrey, I'd say someone's expensive pet being on the prowl as a somewhat more likely proposition than a hitherto undiscovered lowland wildcat. Chances are, if it's a domestic (albeit an exotic one) out for a bit of a mooch, that it's human friendly and that's why it approached the OP (the noises then, would be more likely greeting type noises rather than "I'm about to drag these strangely furred green and brown cammo monkeys into the top of that sycamore" noises.)

My cousin has one of these cats, he's nothing like the size of the one pictured above, but they're definitely available as pets in the UK. White tip to the tail is the only thing I can't explain...
 

Tarp

Member
Jan 18, 2012
15
0
SE
How about this. Some people think it is the owner of that skull I found...

serval.jpg

Sorry Jonathan, it was a very diffrent beast! :)

Too tall, too thin, tail's too short and the head's too small! Very impressive if that is what the skull belong too!!

In the NE highlands they probably were just that - Scottish Wildcats. Not an enormously more common occurence than the surrey puma or beast of bodmin these days apparently :(.

How about these images? http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=vi...ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBEQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=612

Vietnamese fishing cats were a bit of a 'vogue pet' a while back - does it strike a chord for markings and looks?

Some of the images do appear to be very simular! But couldn't say for sure... unless i manage to get a photo or prints or scat... it's all going to be based upon assumption and we all know where that gets us! ;)

In regards to the noise it made, it was clearly communicating with another as when it darted into the bushes the other call still continued until we started getting closer to it.
 

Tarp

Member
Jan 18, 2012
15
0
SE
true, but disease couldn't of taken it's head off at the neck and dragged it onto a game trail away! :D
 
Feb 15, 2011
3,860
2
Elsewhere
True enough but as southey says once the neck had been severed a number of animals could have dragged the head & neck away, fox , badger, dog etc......& just about any critter that walks or flies in them thar woods has helped clean dem bones........BUT!!! BUT!!! the head & neck are not the fav parts for a big cat so could well have been left after the cat had finished & moved on & then a nifty fox had dragged the head away to eat it at his leisure....


Any sign of the rest of it.?
 

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