So much tender love and care was put into the rescue and recuperation of this small, female bobcat after she was hit by a vehicle on the road that it makes the behaviour of the rescuers contrast starkly with hunters who take pleasure in killing the bobcat and where in other states trapping and skinning of the bobcat is allowed.
It is as if we are looking at two distinct worlds but they are the same country. In California (a relatively enlightened state regarding wild animal welfare from my perspective) laws do not ban recreational hunting of the bobcat.
I really like this video. You can see the bobcat – no larger than a house cat at 7 pounds – being weighed etc.. This is a young, subadult female. A man, Cory Simon, 33, whose family has traditionally hunted saw this cat in the middle of the Nicasio Valley Road in western Marin County, California. In fact he drove over the cat but the wheels made no contact. He stopped and noticed that she was breathing.
He scooped her up and placed her on the passenger seat of his car. He felt good about this. He treasured the rare, close contact with a wild animal. Maybe we should all get closer to nature.
“It was pretty cool. You don’t really get to handle wildlife often. How often do you get to handle a bobcat?”
A short, sweet moment occurred when Cory placed the cat in his vehicle; she purred when he petted her. A bit of magic and a real connection with nature. WildCare in San Rafael treated the cat who had not suffered brain or pelvic injury but who was badly injured nonetheless.
She had a bruised eye, abrasions and a broken paw. Apparently she was a difficult patient; full of fire, hisses and growls. That’s good I guess. It means she was fully functioning.
“Oh, this is a very cranky animal” – Alison Hermance, spokeswoman for WildCare, a nonprofit.
Seven weeks of treatment and rest later and then she was released back to where she came from. We can see the release in the video. This is the way our relationship with wild cats should be (except for the vehicular accident).
Roads are as much a hazard for wild cats such as the puma and bobcat as for the domestic cat. The Florida panther (puma) in particular suffers because roads intersect the cat’s territories. Many are killed on roads.
I alsolutely love bobcats and other wildcats, such as the lynx. Personally I think that bobcat hunting should be illegal. These animals are a treasure.
Absolutely agree with you Frances. This a super wild cat. So beautiful. A treasure. I don’t think it is right in 2016 to allow people to hunt this cat for recreational pleasure.
Very good story. I wish they’d provided more in the video, but perhaps they saved it for another project.
I loved the gentle way they handled the cat.