by Maria Giulia Checchi –

If you aspire to be an Aigas wildcat, the most important lesson you need to learn is how to interact with your keeper. These humans are devious, shameless beings! They have no issues with luring you into a cage and stabbing you with a needle, nor with hiding worming tablets in your food so that you don’t know you ingested one until that bitter aftertaste comes up. And even on a day-to-day basis, they are nothing but mannerless bald cats! Trespassing into your territory while offering just about enough food to make up for such transgression. So my mission, you see, is to remind them who they are standing up against. Listen carefully, for here is how I do it.

When it comes to keepers, you hear them before you see them. The engine of a Polaris stops at the gate by Treetop hide, which opens to reveal their hideous bipedal form. They approach, always coated in that weird green fur with the Aigas logo on it, and while they unlock the first door, you need to place yourself at the second and hiss with all your might.

Sir John Lister-Kaye, the founder of this place, or so I’m told, described a wildcat as ‘A snarling, hissing, spitting demon of a cat with murder etched into its soul’. Exactly the role model I need! Ears bent backwards, teeth bared, and fury in my eyes. Such is my go-to tactic for a whisker-proof territorial defence. My partner Brora has a different approach, so to speak. She waits patiently by the door in a loaf, chattering her way into their hearts… As if being cute ever awarded her more food. I wish! So she would stop bullying me for mine in the months that we are paired up. But marital disputes have no place in this lesson. Let’s move on.

Now the keeper puts the food container down while the first door gets locked behind them and the second, your last line of defence, is about to fall. Don’t get distracted by the sweet aroma of meat, which you will soon get to savour, nor cave in intimidated by their size and proximity. So tall are they compared to us, in fact, that a stand-off against them might feel unfair, but here is where our superior cranial capacity compared to domestic cats comes into play. At this point, make a sharp change of position, placing yourself on a higher beam to keep hissing. Choose a height at which they can appreciate the full scale of your ferocity, and arch your back in a prominent hump to make yourself look bigger.

“Hello Fergus! You look just like a camel.”

This comment pleases me, although I never had the chance to gaze at the frightful creature they call ‘acamel’. But compliments will get them nowhere.

As they advance into the enclosure, keep close to them. Keep showing your teeth, keep growling. You are nearly there. Now the keeper hides some food in the tall grass, mimicking where a small mammal would lay in the wild. Now they tie some to the bungee line, forcing you to work well with your jaws and front paws to free it from the rope into your belly. You wish you could just steal an easy meal from the container, but this is safely stored between door one and two, and they only bring your ration into the enclosure. Another reason why they deserve your contempt.

When they are done hiding food, they will turn around and look at you while you choose which item to go for. They seem to derive a weird enjoyment from watching us undo all their hard work. Well, you are not here to put on a show! Grab the easier item you can see and start eating it on the ground or carry it away in one of your boxes as soon as they are done checking it for remains from the previous day. Once they bend down on the litter pits to clear your faeces away, you know you won, and your contempt can go rest until tomorrow while you enjoy a hard-earned meal in peace… At least before Brora decides to steal it.

Profile: Fergus is a nearly 10-years-old wildcat part of the Aigas Wildcat Breeding Programme. He is the father of Broch and grandfather of Rowan. Always eager to show why wildcats were once known as ‘Felis grampia’, he can be described as a hissy old cat with a heart of gold.

Want to help us looking after Fergus and the other resident wildcats? You can adopt a wildcat on the Aigas Field Centre website or make a donation to the Breeding Programme.

words by Maria Giulia Checchi, photography by Jacob New