UKC

Last Saturday night I camped at the top end of Ennerdale beyond Black Sails and early on Sunday morning I set off on a slight variation of the coast to coast route, ultimately finishing the day in Patterdale. Still very early on Sunday morning, I spotted something bounding along the side of the fell at around 600m on the eastern flank of Grey Knotts. It looked like a wild cat, not the mythical Lakeland Panther, something smaller, but definitely a cat. I want to say it was a European Wild Cat, but is that even possible. I know they are rare in the UK and even then mostly in Scotland. Too quick for a photo.

It's probably a feral domestic cat. They are very common. I've never seen one high up in the hills though. 

Didn’t move like a domestic cat, but it was the height which made me think it was wild. I just can’t imagine a reason why a feral domestic cat would be up there.

We have a couple of cats, one of which was formally feral. I’ve never seen a cat more than 100m from a house.

As far as I am aware they are extinct in England with the only remaining ones being in Scotland and even then few in number.

Also doesnt seem to suit a wildcats preferred habitat. They are dense cover, particularly woodland margin, animals and also tend to stay fairly low down although 600m is just about in their normal range (this height might be influenced by the removal of good cover in most locations though).

Rural housecats can have much larger ranges.

We had a regular cat visitor at work, that travelled a few km to get to us, though the exact route was never determined. He had his own contractor's pass...

I came across a Maine Coon the other week for the first time. Never heard of one before. Its owner told me it was often mistaken for a European/ Scottish wild cat.and considering the size of it I'm not at all surprised.

I think they vary a lot. I've seen a normal domestic cat hunting near the top of the Old Man of Coniston. 

It could have caught the grey squirrel I once saw up there, very purposefully crossing the shallow dip between the Old Man and Brim Fell, heading from the Duddon side over into Coppermines.