The one thing about research when you find that 90% of what you learnt is incorrect is that you have to correct that learning. You have to correct things and provide anecdotal or actual physical evidence so that your peers can check and confirm.
(c)2022 BW&FS
The wildcat, specifically the Scottish wildcat, was described as "the tiger of the Highlands" with its yellow coat which, of course, set any number of cryptozoologists and Forteans running around like headless chickens claiming that this must have been an exotic escapee -a tiger! Or, perhaps, one of the last remaining British lynx. What other type of cat can be described as yellowish with stripes (I am not even going to delve into the lack of logic here)?In the 17th and 18th century the Scottish wildcat was clearly described as having a yellowish fur with stripes, etc. Of course, pale and darker fur is likely from cat-to-cat but it got me thinking that what the "experts" call a Scottish pure bred wildcat might in fact just be the end product of hundreds of years of wildcat-feral interbreeding.
The photo above is 19th century so pre 1900 when all the Museum Specimen types were acquired. Does it look like this....?
(c)2022 Woodland TrustThe above obviously has a much darker ground coat than the top photo. Therefore the top photo is a fluke. It may well have been examined and clearly identified as a Scottish wildcat but iyt is not. It is likely a wildcat-feral hybrid. Right? Well, what if I told you that I have a folder full of 19th century taxidermy in which only a few resemble the Museum Specimen type? The colour and even patterns vary as you might expect because -something that the experts appear to have forgotten- most individual animals whose species are striped or spotted have slight varioations in colour or pattern. None are exact clones of one another.
And after having tried (as with Old fox types) both large and small as well as national museums which body do you think owns the oldest true wildcat specimens -yes, I wrote "specimens" because there are two- in the UK? Well, odd though it may seem the British Canid Historical Society does!
Yes, the acquisitions manager is a true genius at getting old specimens and with one particular lot -which will be detailed in The Red Paper 1: Canids (2022)- she also got a pair of the oldest Scottish wildcat specimens I have seen in 40 years. These do not conform to the Museum Type and were shot, examined and clearly identified by one of the most famous British naturalist-'sportsman' of the day (1830s) and identification also confirmed by others.
Sadly, the lack of funds prevents a lot of the work we want to carry out such as examing specimens held around the country. What I am learning is actually almost making my head swim. Each week there seems to be something new and not just with wildcats.
Looking at a lot of the evidence we have gathered the Old fox types story needs to be up-dated from where it was a week ago. The BCHS has a fox dating back to the 1700s but also one of historical importance with its connection to Canada and France. But there are other historically significant specimens we have and would like to get a hold of. You think everything makes sense and is sorted and, typical fox, they present us with something new.
One might hope that The Red Paper 1: Canids (2022) and The Red Paper 2: Felids (2022) would bring in some revenue to support further research however the first Red Paper hardly sold more than 12 copies since 2010. It seems that wildcats and foxes are really a specialist interest. We've crashed into one "No Grants for That" stonewall after another so we keep going but with hands and feet shackled.
