In some heartwarming news, some good folks in Florida found this darling kitten in the middle of the road at 2 am. Separated from her mom, the little baby bobcat was turned over to Big Cat Rescue who have christened her Spirit Feather. A lovely story of how ordinary folks do extraordinary things when they come to the aid of a helpless animal.
An apt name, she has shown tremendous spirit and displayed an endearing ferocity. The name is a tribute to Little Feather, who came to Big Cat Rescue when she was only five days old and was sickly as a kitten. She passed away at 23 in May 2016 and is still much missed at the centre. Spirit Feather is now a much loved baby, bringing the smiles back!
Spirit Feather is a feisty baby!
Dr Justin Boorstein, DVM and Jamie Veronica Boorstein have had their hands full while trying to do a SNAP test and give the first set of kitten shots to Spirit Feather. Even though handling her is not easy, the team is happy to see a fighting survival instinct. Spirit Feather had also been infected with ringworm so the doctors had to ensure they don’t contaminate the ground in the rehab area and her bedding is bleached daily. Ringworm can thrive for years in the soil.
As she recovers, the feisty little kitten shows true spirit and a playful character.
Amazing Bobcat Facts:
- Bobcats are always spotted to some extent, and the southern bobcats seem to have a more spotted coat, with smaller spots than the northern cats.
- Don’t mistake a bobcat for their larger feline cousin the Lynx. The tail of the Lynx looks as though it was dipped in an inkwell being black all the way around, whereas the Bobcat’s tail appears to have been painted black on top and white on the bottom.
- After a gestation of about 50-70 days, females produce a litter of 1-8 kittens. They weigh 9.75-12 ounces at birth and will open their eyes at around 6 days. They are weaned between 3-4 months of age, and reach sexual maturity around 12 months for females, and 24 months for males.
- This little cat was the most heavily harvested and traded member of the cat family for 20 years. In the 1970s, CITES came into effect and the pelts of the Appendix 1 cats became illegal, the price offered to trappers for a bobcat pelt went from $20 to $600. So the number of bobcats killed annually went up from 10,000 to over 90,000 by the ’80s. The interest in spotted cat fur today was declining thanks to international awareness – until 2008 when Russia began buying all the bobcat pelts they could get their hands on. This surge threatens to wipe the bobcat out of America.
- The bobcat also battles destruction of habitat due to human population growth. Over 40,000 bobcats are still being killed each year. This figure does not include all the bobcats killed by hunters who do not buy licenses nor report their kills. Less than 3% of our population are hunters but they kill over 100 million animals each year for sport.
Source: IUCN Wild Cats Book/ Big Cat Rescue
Spirit Feather
How You Can Help:
Susan Bass, Director of Public Relations, Big Cat Rescue, says, “Wild bobcats are found throughout the United States. They are solitary cats that will leave humans alone for the most part. If you encounter a wild bobcat, just leave it alone and it will move on. If it appears injured or you encounter kittens that appear abandoned, contact a bobcat rehabber in your state. Big Cat Rescue is licensed to rehab bobcats in Florida. We are currently raising funds to greatly expand our rehab bobcat area at the sanctuary so we can take care of even more injured and orphaned Florida bobcats and return them to the wild where they belong.” If you would like to help them build a new rehab facility, you can donate here.
Photographers pay a lot for images of game farm cats as they can’t get these photos in the wild. No mommy will let them anywhere near her kittens. The mums are drugged and wired down in place, the kittens are turned loose and they run to their mothers. She wakes up surrounded by photographers, terrified, and gives them the hissing images. The photo session is concluded by the mother being darted again. Don’t buy books, calendars or other items with wildcat mom and kitten photos or share them on social media (unless you know they were taken ethically).
There are many ways you can help bobcats. Check out the Big Cat Rescue website for how to get involved.
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