They go in, get sent to the vet.... snip snip and set free again. He was lucky to get this close this time to the real Scottish wildcat before letting it go its merry way.
Theres a story of a female wildcat saving her kittens from a golden eagle even if it meant her own life.
"Around Strathspey in the Highlands there's a widely known story of a gamekeeper out walking his land one day who spotted a golden eagle circling and diving at something below.
He worked his way in closer to see what it was hunting and was surprised to see a female Scottish wildcat standing over a group of very young kittens.
Th eagle kept coming in to try and drive off the adult so it could get at the kits but the wildcat stood its ground hissing furiously and lunging at the eagle whenever it came close.
Eventually, the eagle got just a little too close, the cat leapt and got a hold of it, biting at the throat and kicking at the body with it's rear legs in classic feline style.
The eagle managed to haul itself skyward with wildcat still attached going at it, eventually the wildcat overcame the bird and both fell a substantial distance to the floor.
The keeper rushed to where he saw them both go down and found the eagle just torn to pieces and the wildcat writhing on the floor, alive and aware but its back broken by the fall, of course he killed it straight away, still hissing furiously at him.
The story has passed into local legend somewhat (perhaps helped by the area being Clan Chattan territory, a clan who mostly have wildcats in their leader's crest) but I've heard it from numerous people and the details are always the same so I'd certainly give it some credence, feline mothers are well known to do anything to protect their young." - Steve Piper
www.scottishwildcats.co.uk
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