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Filming the spectacular Scottish highlands

My experience with cats lies mostly with tigers in south Asia. I've had the privilege of setting eyes on them and working on their conservation in India and Nepal. But I am fascinated by the entire felid family. They're evolutionary perfection in all aspects of their biology and ecology.

Magnificent and lynxes used to roam the British Isles before becoming extinct, making the intractable, fiercely independent and beautiful wildcat the last remaining felid and .

Autumn should be the best time to see these cryptic animals. This is the time kittens leave the safety of their dens, seeking independence. The population is also at its peak before the harsh winter hits. Inevitably some of the weakest individuals will be killed off.

Nevertheless, with only one wildcat for every six square km we need to pull out all the stops to see one. We investigate all reports of wildcat sightings, set up as many camera traps as possible and make plans to go out lamping every night in the hope of catching even a glimpse of one.

Amazingly, our cameraman Pete delivers pretty quickly with enticing footage from his hide of a cat exhibiting all the classic morphology of a wildcat: a thick blunt tail with definitive black stripes and black tip, defined stripes on his flanks and rump, and a rounded, robust face. A fantastic result.

But I am desperate to set eyes on a wildcat myself, anticipating a similar experience to my first glimpse of a tiger, a moment I will never forget. To me, there is nothing more moving and spiritual than the sight of a cat in the wild, fearlessly and majestically patrolling its territory.

So with the help of Frank Law, a manager at Seafield & Strapsey Estates, we set out lamping, in the hope of spotting the eye shine of a cat amongst those of the red deer, rabbits and sheep scattered on the landscape. It is a cold night and we are huddled together in the 4x4, with all the windows open, following the movement of the powerful rays of our spotlights directed at the tree line.

We roam the countryside and have a very frustrating false alarm, mistaking a young roe deer lying down and peeking behind a tree for our elusive target. After several hours I begin to lose my enthusiasm as the cold well and truly settles into our bones.

An incredible wildlife experience... on tape

Frank suggests one last and even more remote location. We rattle down a track. Up there in the distance, a pair of yellow-green eyes, too close together to be a deer's and too bright to be a rabbit's stares back at us. Just as I get the sense that our mission may actually be accomplished another set of eyes pops up behind the rocks. I am about to have one of the most incredible wildlife experiences of my life...

Watch what happens on Thursday night's show and if you have a question about wildcats you can ask Liz a question.