Thanks, Caberfeidh. An amazing bit of information to fathom.
So there could well be large cats oot and aboot!
Where I live, near Dallas (Texas), I was quite surprised to learn from the animal removal people ( I have armadillos digging up my back garden ) that we are seeing the reentry of jaguar into our area. Apparently, historically this was part of their range and they now seem to 'be back'. We also have the not so rare bobcat, the very rare mountain lion, and the ubitquitous coyote - not a cat, but responsible for many missing felines in the neighborhood!
We also have nutters who keep exotic animals...tigers, lions, panthers...and more commonly folk who have wolves and raise them or use them to create wolf-dog mixes. All very well and good until one of our tornadoes blows through and sets some of the wee beasties free. A fellow just south of where I live had his tigers confiscated...
So...as far as anyone knows, Scotland doesn't have any poisonous snakes, right?
Again, many thanks for the replies to my post...