Jim puts an optimistic new view on efforts to halt the decline of the Scottish wildcat.
SUTHERLAND, somewhere west of Lairg, shortly before a spring dawn, nearing the end of a through-the-night drive on something perilously close to automatic pilot.
Suddenly there was a pair of eyes in the headlights unlike anything I’d seen, ever. They burned from a point in the middle of the road – like green cat’s eyes, I thought, and at that moment I realised what I was looking at. As the car stopped about 20 yards away the headlights illuminated my first wildcat. It had crouched, and gave the impression of staring out the headlights. With its head low to the ground, ears pointed outwards from the edge of a broad skull, its back arching steeply behind its head, it looked ready for anything.
I switched the lights off. The wildcat switched its green eyes off. I waited. It waited. I switched the engine off, wound down the window. The chill air rushed in. I could just make out the unmoving shape in the road.
Then it spoke. One of the clichés that attaches to the wildcat is the terrifying nature of its scream. The voice of this one, then, came as a bit of a surprise. The monosyllable it pronounced was loud and throaty:
“Mau!” it said. Then it walked to the edge of the road, jumped the ditch, landed with a soft thud in the bracken and vanished. Then, from a few yards up the hill: “Mau!” The sound is still in my head, 30 years after the event.
So I wrote 10 years ago – make this 40 years after the event. I was revisiting the article because this winter has witnessed the largest-ever survey of Scottish wildcats, part of a six-year plan which began in 2013, aimed at halting their drastic decline. So far it has not covered itself in glory.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 2017 من The Scots Magazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 2017 من The Scots Magazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Unst To Orbit
Shetland's spaceport is set to take Europe by storm, launching rockets to the stratosphere
Just Passing Through
A tale of the unexpected unfolds at dawn in a Stirlingshire glen as a rare, shy creature slips out of the shadows
Brigadoon Revisited
An affectionate look back at the low budget \"synthetic Scotch\" movie that still sparkles in the mist, 70 years on
A Brand New Opening
The Scots Magazine revisits the Old Course in St Andrews almost 70 years on and celebrates recent progress in welcoming women
Kenmore's Crossroads
Fury over a luxury redevelopment at the Perthshire village made news headlines around the world but is the tide of popular opinion turning?
Seeing Double!
Sam Heughan's Outlander body double, lain Wilkie, shares stories about his experiences on and off screen
The Story & The Song
With a soundtrack to a Shetland tale, author and musician Malachy Tallack blends his artistic passions in his latest venture
A Rebirth From The Earth
Erland Cooper's intriguing project has given nature and two determined fans a hand in shaping and bringing his new album to light
Nip Of Champions
Whisky has long been associated with moments of triumph, including a recent example of clever sporting motivation
The Waterside Hotel
A spectacular spot on the stunning Ayrshire coast