i was lucky to spot one of these beats in the wild once.
Lucky you!
I think I heard one once, and have seen one or two at the
Highland Wildlife Park.
Many years ago I acquired (long story) a kitten from Aberdeenshire, which must have been a wildcat hybrid.
A mean looking critter, with wildcat tail markings, who'd regularly disappear for days, sometimes weeks on end. He looked relatively 'normal' in the summer, but seemed much larger with a really thick coat in the winter.
He was named Prentice, after the character Prentice McHoan in Iain Banks' book
The Crow Road.