NAOMI STOLOW : WILDLIFE + NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY

Latin name: Felis silvestris grampia 

I took these photos at the Westcountry Wildlife Photogrpahy Centre.  It is highly unlikely I'll ever see a wild one they are so rare and elusive and the only native member of the cat family still found in the wild in Scotland - on the brink of extinction, the wildcat is a European protected species.

At first glance you'd think they are the same as a pet tabby cat but on closer inspection you notice their genetic differences: their tails are blunt and bushy, their eyes are further apart and their skulls are bigger.  As carnivores, they spend much of the day sleeping and digseting during the daytime and are most active at dawn and dusk.