The Scottish Wildcat

Worth saving, or fuckit?

There are around 30-40 of them left, pure, and they're the world's rarest feline (that we know abait).

Personally, I struggle to feel too bothered because they interbreed with domestic cats, and I'm not sure they have much impact on the world on top of stray tabbys anyway.

The lynx, deerhunter extraordinaire, or the wulf, on the other hand, could play a huge part in helping re-establish a natural balance to our wild lands, none of which are particularly wild, trooth be told.

I thought this was another DA thread!

If he was a Scottish creature, he'd be a grouse. he doesn't give a fukabait any other creatures and his habitat will be managed extensively at the expense of anything interesting; he's happy on his corn and will eat it until that one day he's pottering along, will be disturbed by a local beater, fly up in the air shocked, and get shot by one of the same rich private school toff fookers whose nefarious selfishness has enabled this shocking state of affairs in the first place.

The only way to save to Widcat is to shoot/trap/poison all domestic cats in Scotland, not that I'd give a fook about those murderous little bastards they are like posh people in cute fur jackets. As for Lynx maybe Scotland is uninhabited enough but the reality is they will probably all get shot by sheep farmers. I would love to see and hear Wolves in the wild although we just aren't big enough as a country. Not only will they eat Deer but Sheep, Cows, Ponies, People's dogs, the odd small child. When they reintroduced them to Yelowstone which is about the size of Wales they soon bred up and split with satellite packs turning up well well outside of the reserve and they are huge country. When they stray they get shot.

There it is, "The size of Wales" the most frequently used geographical comparison in the history of geographical comparisons

Fookin sheep farmers and their white fluffy plague decimating Dartmoor.

seadog wrote:

I thought this was another DA thread!

I thought it was Nicola Sturgeon!

Les Miserable wrote:

   There it is,  "The size of Wales"     the most frequently used geographical comparison in the history of geographical comparisons    

True although Wales is the only country that is actually the size of Wales.

Mock Cuncher wrote:

Fookin sheep farmers and their white fluffy plague decimating Dartmoor.

Without the fluffy white plague you wouldn't be able to walk anywhere on Dartmoor in about five years.

Earwegoagain wrote:

Mock Cuncher wrote:

Fookin sheep farmers and their white fluffy plague decimating Dartmoor.

Without the fluffy white plague you wouldn't be able to walk anywhere on Dartmoor in about five years.

That'd be better than the whole place dying. It's a desert, by any other name.

And yep, Wolves likely wouldn't work, although countries like the Netherlands have had successful trials, so, yer know, if there was a will.

Lynx though are ambush tree hunters. Yep they'd take the odd sheep, but their main prey is red deer, which require culling every year so they don't eat everything.

I think that an animal that is feckin itself into extinction should be allowed to do what it wants. But it can’t complain when it is renamed the Scottish slightly peeved cat.

Mock Cuncher wrote:

Earwegoagain wrote:

Mock Cuncher wrote:

Fookin sheep farmers and their white fluffy plague decimating Dartmoor.

Without the fluffy white plague you wouldn't be able to walk anywhere on Dartmoor in about five years.

That'd be better than the whole place dying. It's a desert, by any other name.

Lol, we talking drought or Sheep here? If you re wilded Dartmoor as they have tried in some test areas by stopping grazing you get a high scrubby ling gorse which takes over along with Bracken. Although they provide some nesting and foraging for birds it's at the expense of ground nesting birds and rodents as there is no herbage underneath for them to feed on. You also see a decrease in the amount of Raptors Owls especially not to kention the marsh Harriers and Merlins. There is a wild population of Red Grouse on the moor who would die out as they need young shoots to feed on either provided by burning heather or grazing by sheep. The moor has been managed for thousands of years including swaling or burning. The wildlife has evolved with this. Having grazing, some swaling and a variety of habitats as we do now is as good for wildlife if not better than the hands off approach.

Frank Bullitt wrote:

I think that an animal that is feckin itself into extinction should be allowed to do what it wants. But it can’t complain when it is renamed the Scottish slightly peeved cat.

But that's all cats.

And pretty much all Scots, too.

MikeWN wrote:

Frank Bullitt wrote:

I think that an animal that is feckin itself into extinction should be allowed to do what it wants. But it can’t complain when it is renamed the Scottish slightly peeved cat.

But that's all cats.

And pretty much all Scots, too.

Doesn't Peeved have a completely different meaning in Scotland?

Anyway we already have feckin great Pumas on Dartmoor, not that I've ever seen one despite spendining loads of time up there usually with gert big dogs that loved to chase cats. I know seemingly level headed people who swear they have though. My dogs did find a roe deer that was completely eaten out in a Puma type way once but I wouldn't call it proof.

There used to be a wild Black Panther where I grew up in Buckinghamshire.

A few people saw it over the years, including me.

I will admit I shit myself when it jumped out of the woods in front of me!

I loooooove cats, they're magnificent, even a lowly Maine coon or Mannamead moggy. Cross breeding has always gone on in nature. We encourage it with social mobility policies within our own species. I like diversity, what's the alternative ? A world of Janners and hunting hounds ? Good luck to the wildcats, what will be will be,

What I don't like however is every animal attraction in the country cynically using the media every summer school holidays. Has nessie made an appearance this year in a fuggy lens ?

Cats are murderous cnuts. It's ok having the odd mouser around the farm or country cottage but irresponsible cat owners letting their little darlings out in nesting season to slaughter millions of birds should he a huge no no.

That's called Black cat syndrome moulders, whereby even a small black cat can look menacingly large if moving.

Mock Cuncher wrote:

That's called Black cat syndrome moulders, whereby even a small black cat can look menacingly large if moving.

It looked feckin big from 10 foot away I can tell you!

Funny thing was someone who used to take the piss out of me in the pub about it saw it a couple of years after me.

He apologised and said he would never doubt me ever again.

Sounds like On the way home from the pub syndrome

He used to say I saw it on the way home from the pub! 
I saw it on the way home from college about 6 o'clock.

He was on the way to the pub when he saw it.

He came in shaking like a leaf, ordered a pint and a whisky chaser, downed them both in one.