New project to protect wildcats

A new project is being launched with the aim of giving the endangered
Scottish wildcat greater protection.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/...ds/8026731.stm
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy, Bagheera & Shadow)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk

Adrian wrote:
A new project is being launched with the aim of giving the endangered
Scottish wildcat greater protection.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/...ds/8026731.stm

There's got to be a problem with scale. In the pictures, they look like
your average neighbourhood tabby. When you read the text (there or
elsewhere on the web) you find out that they tend to be 50% bigger than
the local tabbies, which is a fair bit, but there's nothing in the
photos to show that.

Then again, since they are also said to defend themselves vigourously
when they feel cornered, there's obviously a good reason none of their
human supporters are photographed hugging them, and also incidentally
showing how much bigger they are than domestic cats!

We still have lynx (lots and lots), but you almost never see them. I've
caught a glimpse of one in the wild, from a distance, many years ago.
They're very timid and stay well clear of human activity - unlike our
other big cats, the mountain lions out west, which are said to me more
aggressive.

Cheryl

"Adrian" wrote in message
om...
A new project is being launched with the aim of giving the endangered
Scottish wildcat greater protection.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/...ds/8026731.stm
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy, Bagheera & Shadow)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk


Wonderful cat. They have that P'O'd look that I love. :P

Theresa and Dante

"Cheryl P." wrote in message
...
Adrian wrote:
A new project is being launched with the aim of giving the endangered
Scottish wildcat greater protection.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/...ds/8026731.stm

There's got to be a problem with scale. In the pictures, they look like
your average neighbourhood tabby. When you read the text (there or
elsewhere on the web) you find out that they tend to be 50% bigger than
the local tabbies, which is a fair bit, but there's nothing in the photos
to show that.

Then again, since they are also said to defend themselves vigourously when
they feel cornered, there's obviously a good reason none of their human
supporters are photographed hugging them, and also incidentally showing
how much bigger they are than domestic cats!


Doesn't the Scottish motto "Touch not the cat" refer to these cats?

Theresa and Dante

Adrian wrote:

A new project is being launched with the aim of giving the endangered
Scottish wildcat greater protection.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/...ds/8026731.stm

Check out a related story here, with an "eek thud" picture of a baby
wildkitten!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/s...ds/7240908.stm

--
Joyce ^..^

To email me, remove the XXX from my user name.

Cheryl P. wrote:
Adrian wrote:
A new project is being launched with the aim of giving the endangered
Scottish wildcat greater protection.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/...ds/8026731.stm

There's got to be a problem with scale. In the pictures, they look
like your average neighbourhood tabby. When you read the text (there
or elsewhere on the web) you find out that they tend to be 50% bigger
than the local tabbies, which is a fair bit, but there's nothing in
the photos to show that.

Then again, since they are also said to defend themselves vigourously
when they feel cornered, there's obviously a good reason none of their
human supporters are photographed hugging them, and also incidentally
showing how much bigger they are than domestic cats!

We still have lynx (lots and lots), but you almost never see them.
I've caught a glimpse of one in the wild, from a distance, many years
ago. They're very timid and stay well clear of human activity -
unlike our other big cats, the mountain lions out west, which are
said to me more aggressive.

Cheryl

I think the last lynx in Britain was killed about 400 years ago. :-( also
our wolves and bears, there are no large preditors left here.
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy, Bagheera & Shadow)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk

Adrian wrote:


I think the last lynx in Britain was killed about 400 years ago. :-( also
our wolves and bears, there are no large preditors left here.

Too bad, I've always had a weakness for lynx, even though I've mostly
only seen them in pictures.

The last wolf on my island was killed - I think - in the 1800s, but the
rest of Canada still has plenty. And plenty of bears - that's black
bears in my area. I've seen lots. When I was a child, even a park used
open dumps, and we used to go there to watch the bears. I think they
have changed (or are changing) waste disposal methods to try to make the
bears less dependant on human food. During one of my childhood camping
trips, my younger sister saw a Newfoundland dog, just at dusk and ran
after it to try to pet it. It was actually a young black bear! They
aren't really aggressive, unless you get between a mother and her cubs,
or you stumble across one that's just finishing hibernation and is
therefore hungry and in a bad mood. Humans *have* been killed by both
wolves and black bears, but it's very, very, very rare. You couldn't
have convinced my grandfather of that, though! He thought bears not only
attacked humans, but tracked them down to do so. We sometimes also get
polar bears swimming ashore from ice floes. The general advice is to
stay away and call the "Wildlife" and/or police to arrange sedation,
trapping and a free helicopter trip back north. Grizzlies, now - they
don't live in my area, but I've always heard that they, and polar bears,
are more aggressive than black bears. There are reports of grizzlies and
polar bears in the wild mating and producing offspring.

We may have lost the wolf, but we gained the coyote. It had been moving,
entirely on its own, north and east from its original habitat, but I
don't think anyone aside from wildlife biologist really expected it to
get to the island until the evidence was unmistakable. One was killed by
a car, and people could see that the corpse wasn't a dog. Either coyotes
stowed away on a ferry, crossed on ice, or swam (well, that's not
likely). The ice crossing is the best bet. I suppose the Atlantic Ocean
will remain a barrier against it getting to the UK! It's not a popular
new resident. Sheep farmers hate it with a passion and it's getting the
blame for eating caribou calves, although bears do that too. And of
course, a domestic cat would be a nice snack for one.

Cheryl