Silvery Wildcat

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Silvery Wildcat

by Angela Staples
(England)

I was walking along a cycle track with my dog, when I turned around and saw a large animal walking along, I stopped and looked in amazement and thought what’s that? It turned around and looked at me and I remember thinking it looked like a cat but a very big one, then it ran back into the bushes. I have tried to look on the net to see if I can see anything that resembles this animal and I’m relly not sure what it was.

It could have been a silver fox but I’m not 100% sure because its tail wasn’t as bushy as those of a red fox so I really have not got a clue. It was the size of a medium sized dog, silvery grey in colour, big ears and a long tail which had stripes on it, I don’t recall any spots on the fur I was too in shock really…..definitely looked like a wild cat of some sort but not got an idea of what wild cat.

Angela

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Silvery Wildcat

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Sep 27, 2009 Maybe just a very big cat
by: Finn Frode, Denmark

Hi Angela. I wonder if maybe you have seen a very big domestic cat – like a Maine Coon. The first time you see a grown male MC, you can’t help but getting amazed at the size – “Is that a cat or a lynx?” 😉
They come in all colours including grey, but it must be said that an MC tail should be more bushy than the one you describe.

Sep 26, 2009 Thanks for sharing
by: Michael

Angela, thanks for sharing. This cat (if it was a cat) was obviously different to your standard domestic cat otherwise you wouldn’t have noticed it in the way you did.

There is only one wild cat in the UK, the Scottish wild cat as you probably know. It is confined to Scotland as it was killed off in England and Wales over 100 years ago (typical us).

But the Scottish wild cat (which is considered to be a subspecies of the wildcat) does look a bit as you have described. It is, though, similar in size to the domestic cat (and therefore smaller than as described by you) but looks bigger because of the dense fur. Its tail has stripes and it does look a bit silvery in colour although it is brown tabby.

The tail of a lynx or bobcat is too short but this would fit the description. It may have been an escaped pet wildcat, that is the point I am making. But most small/medium sized wildcats don’t have silvery coats.

Another possibility is an F1 wildcat hybrid such as the Savannah. Such a cat would be big enough but they are not really silvery (more muted yellow like a serval) and they are a spotted tabby.

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