Ten characteristics of the wildcat in Belgium, NE-France en W-Germany are listed below. Not all of these features can be observed under field conditions. Wildcats are more easily recognized in winter coat. Tabby house or feral cats may have the individual features listed here, but never all of them at the same time. Many of the pictures are from WIESELFILM Ingrid Büttner & Manfred Trinzen.

1. Bushy, blunt tail with a black tip and two or more dark rings, which gradually fade towards the tail base. No dark stripe along the upper side of the (lower half of the) tail.

2. Longhaired coat with a base colour of beige to ochrous-brown (see extreme colour of the animal at the right at nr. 1), and vague grey stripes, low in contrast. More contrast on the head and legs. Distinctiveness of the striping depends heavily on the angle and kind of light.

3. Nose leather (front of the nose) pinkish.  4. Eyes green to yellow-green.

5. Contrasting dark stripe running from behind the shoulders to the root of the tail, never continuing to the tail tip and joining the tail rings.

6. Often a white patch on the breast, but not always.

7. Relatively long legs and big feet, especially in young animals.

8. The underside of the hind feet is black (or very dark) only in the front part, around the soles, and not on the heel. In tabby house cats the hind feet are black over their whole length. 9. Almost always a small whitish tuft of hair is present in between the toes and the foot sole.

10. Young cats (see also at 7), and wildcats in summer coat, have a more contrasting striping and therefore resemble tabby house cats more. See also: [link]

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