Wildcat Haven

"Mike Tomkies is inextricably linked to the cause of the Scottish Wildcat, being one of the first to bring them back to public attention through two books written in the 1980s about his experiences living alongside them and helping them survive in the remote Highlands. Eventually those two books were collected together as Wildcat Haven, and when the project was designed to launch in the very same area Mike had lived, it was named in honour of his work." "Some seven years after abandoning the life of an international journalist for a life in the wilds, Mike Tomkies began a remarkable experiment, rearing the most ferocious animal to roam wild in Britain - the Scottish wildcat. The true wildcat is now an endangered species and only to be found in inaccessible parts of the Scottish mountains. It may look like a giant domestic tabby, but with its bright red tongue and vicious claws, it is a formidable and fearless opponent of mankind. It is justly noted for being untameable. To begin with, Mike became the custodian of two spitfire kittens, found abandoned in a ditch when only a few weeks old. Even before they were fully weaned in his kitchen, they could be approached only with extreme care, usually with thick gauntlets as protection against the ravages of tooth and claw. He named them Cleo and Patra, and built them a sturdy natural pen between his lonely cottage and the west wood. The kittens were only seven months old when a spitting and snarling ten-year-old tomcat arrived from London Zoo to change all their lives. Mike resolved to breed a wildcat family and prepare them for a return to the wild., In the years that followed little of the scant scientific theory on wildcat behaviour was bourne out by his careful observations. An update of the lengthy appendix which discusses wildcat populations, history and research on the breed including issues of genetic purity is included in this new edition. Mike's extraordinary adventures in raising and releasing no fewer than three litters, two pure wildcat and one hybrid from a domestic male gone wild, are full of incident, at times hilarious, and deeply moving. The runt of Cleo's second litter demolished Mike's last defences by giving him her total trust and affection while fiercely retaining an utterly wild and independent nature, so he became first to 'tame' a wildcat. This unique story of communion between man and animal is taken from two books that have long been out of print - "My Wilderness Wildcats and Liane", "A Cat from the Wild" - revised and updated by the author and illustrated with many new photographs, all in colour." "...I may not have been the very first person to breed wildcats in captivity when I started the project in 1974, but I may have been the first to successfully release them back into the wild. I *think* I am the first person to actually tame a wildcat but, again, I am not too sure. Many years ago, long before I began the project, my late friend, the great wildlife photographer Geoffrey Kinns, showed me a photo of a superb male wildcat which he said a gamekeeper he knew had tamed. He had even patted the animal himself! The keeper had sought no publicity and I regret now that at the time I saw no reason to get the man's name and address. Anyway, here is the full story of my adventures when breeding fierce wildcats. It is filled with incident - minor triumphs and disasters like escapes, at times hilariously amusing and at others deeply moving. The taming of the runt kitten of the second litter who eventually gave me her total trust and affection while still retaining her utterly wild and independent nature, is told in detail."