Bobcat Update

Cole, from Southwest Wildlife, came out yesterday evening and placed a humane trap, baited with a dead chicken (yuk!) in a dry wash near our home. I checked the trap before dark yesterday, and again at daybreak this morning. But, alas, somehow the wily beast has managed to elude capture!

I'm worried about him even more now. What if he can no longer walk? I spent about a half hour looking for him, but no luck. It's very windy today, I will put on a heavier coat and go back out. He would have so many great places to hide. As I walk over the rocky ground I get a new appreciation for the pain he must be suffering walking on his wound. Crushed granite is very sharp.

I have reason to believe he is still alive. As gruesome as it sounds there have been no vultures or ravens hovering. And, I'm pretty sure I would smell something. When something dies out here, I can really smell it, horrible as it is.

Wounded Bobcat

I want to thank everyone for their caring responses to my injured bobcat Tweet. There's a picture to the right. That rather pinkish spot toward the bottom of his hind leg is actually bone. He walks on that bone while the bottom half of his leg drags behind. It's so gruesome. He must be suffering terribly.

I finally reached a wildlife rescue, Southwest Wildlife, that will come out to capture and treat "him". (I think I've named him "Poor Baby"). I'm currently waiting for "Jerry" to come (possibly not until tomorrow) and put out a "Have-A-Heart" trap so they can catch him. I'm told if the injury is too bad, or too old, they will have to amputate his leg, in which case they will keep him at the sanctuary for the rest of his life. That will be so sad, but I can only hope it's better than a slow, painful death.

A really down note to an otherwise joyous day.