FINLAY PICTURES

HI All

As promised, here are some pictures of the wonderful Finlay. As you can see, the promising wildcat markings he showed as a very young kitten are being carried through as he grows. You can see the clearly ringed and blunt ended tail, the beautiful body stripes and that the dorsal stripe stops at the base of the tail. These are all signature wildcat markings. He is just stunning and in perfect health. He has come a long way from that tiny, hypothermic, orphaned kitten that we all fell in love with only a few months ago.

He has been protected from the worst of winter and he is currently in his spring coat, but that will thicken significantly for winter. We are delighted with his progress and the way he is adapting to his new rehabilitation enclosure. He is showing a range of natural behaviours and the way he uses the cover to stalk is very encouraging. He is like a little tiger and virtually impossible to see when he moves through the vegetation cover. His striping blends in perfectly with the shadows from the trees. His behaviour patterns are also changing and he is becoming almost exclusively nocturnal (these pictures were taken the day he moved in).

We have minimal contact with him now as he prepares for his return to the wild. It has been a real privilege to have had the opportunity to watch him grow up at close quarters, but now for his sake, that contact is being reduced. We are planning to install spy cams in the enclosure so that we can monitor his progress remotely and can’t wait to see him hunting successfully.

He is still only a very young cat and still has some growing to do, especially as the first few weeks of his life were so traumatic and would have slowed his early growth. However he is making up for it now and his appetite is enormous. We really hope you enjoy seeing these pictures and we will post some videos in the coming days.

We are currently assessing suitable release sites and will provide a fuller update on our plans for him going forward.

Many thanks as always, we cant do any of this work without your continuing support. If you want to receive a wildcat adoption pack or send one as a gift to someone for a birthday, anniversary or any special occasion, then you can do so on this site.

Stay in touch and keep watching.

The Wildcat Haven Team and Finlay.