Well, yesterday we stumbled across a baby bobcat…
It was mid-afternoon when my Dad and sister Sveta went out to a nearby spring to fill up some containers with water. When they reached the end of our street, they saw what looked to be a medium sized kitten hit in the middle of the road. Its hind quarters lay limp, as it spun itself in circles, trying to move with its front feet.
As dad pulled the truck over to the side of the road, Sveta jumped out with some gloves to rescue the kitten. By the time she brought him over to the truck, he had gone limp and his chances of survival looked slim. But as dad got a closer look, he noted with surprise the kitten’s unusual features… he had a longer nose; long legs; big white circles on the back of his larger than normal ears; and a short, black-tipped tail. This was no regular kitten… it was a baby bobcat!
Seeing as the poor thing didn’t look like it was going to live much longer, my sister took it over to some tall grass beside an old abandoned barn and gently laid it down to die… Dad called us up at home, and asked us if we wanted to go see a baby bobcat… He told us to warn the little kids, though, that it would probably be dead.
On their way back from filling up the water containers they decided to stop and see if the little guy had passed away.
As they neared the spot where they had laid him, there he was – head up, attentively looking around! It seems that he had come out of his shock, and was now feisty and defensive, hissing as they approached.
Judging by his condition that he wouldn’t be going anywhere on his own, they left him there and drove back home to pick up a few things.
We gathered together some towels and the gloves, and piled into the truck to go pick him up.
The poor little fellow had probably never seen another human being in all his life, so he hissed and pawed until we wrapped him up in a towel and covered his head.
When we got him home, we laid him gently on the grass for the kids to come over and look at. His back legs still lay limp, tucked together on the towel.
He had calmed down a little bit and seemed to be doing fine, when someone made a sudden move, scaring him. Before we could do anything he had jumped up on his front legs and dashed under the nearby play cabin, hoping along with his back legs. It took us a while to scare him out again, (Sveta and I were both sprawled in the dirt, half- way under the playhouse, trying to scare him out the other side; while Elise and Isaac stood ready to catch him, should he run out that way…); so this time, when we finally caught him, we put him in a cage and shut the door. This was definitely no dying cat!
Seeing as he was still in need of serious help, (never mind the fact that it’s illegal for just anyone to have one of these things in their possession…), we decided to see if we could find a wild animal rehab place to turn him over to. Mom got on the phone, while I surfed the internet… trying to find… I wasn’t exactly sure what. lol I was able to turn up a few numbers for what looked to be some animal rehab places, and I started calling. The first number was disconnected, the second place was closed, the third lady didn’t work with animal anymore… but, she could give me a number of someone who did…
This turned out to be a lady up in Ranger, GA, who takes in injured deer and small mammals. She said she had never cared for a bobcat before, but that she would be happy to take him and have her vet check him out.
We planned where to meet her, and then piled back into the truck… the bobcat in his cage in the back.
When we arrived at the gas station, it wasn’t long before the lady pulled up. She told us what she generally did with injured wild animals, and that her final goal was to get them released back into the wild. We related to her how we had found the little guy, and what his behavior had been thus far.
She had brought her own cage, but we offered to just let her take him in the cage he was in, seeing as he was a bit feisty. She said that probably wouldn’t be necessary, and asked to see him. She then reached in the cage and pulled him out, holding him by the scruff of his neck! lol
He didn’t look too happy, but seeing as there was not much that he could do, he just hung there hissing. She placed his gently in the cage, and then loaded him into her car.
It was sad seeing him go… he was such a cute little bobcat. But before parting we gave her our number to keep us updated on how he does… so hopefully he will recover, and that will not be the last we hear of the little guy. :)
-Shannon
*Yawn...* well... sad to say, but my summer officially ends tomorrow... no more lazy evening lounging with a good book, swimming with the kids, harping on my harp, making messes in the kitchen... *sigh*... but looking on the bright side, it also means no more nine to five work days!!! :D That's one thing I discovered over the course of this summer... the nine to five work day was never meant for me... or I was never meant for it... or whatever... Don't get me 
wrong, I have nothing against work... I was very thankful to have that job, (I worked front desk at my dad's office.) ... but still, there's just something inside me that really disliked the thought of having to go sit behind a desk for eight hours a day, five days a week, trying desperately to maintain a genuine smile... But that's all over now... and it's off to Southern tomorrow! Boy, I haven't packed a thing yet... wonder when I'll start... hmmm... might have to pull a late nighter... Thankfully school's not too far from home this time, so if I forget something it won't be that crucial... which I'm sure I will considering that this is Shannon packing at 12:00 am... she'll be in rare form I'm sure... hmmm... yeah... anyhow, I should probably go now... just had the urge to post a farewell to another good summer at home...
