This year has proved to be the year of the bobcat for the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center. Six bobcats have been beneficiaries of WERC’s internationally recognized bobcat program so far this year.Â
Boronda: A woman was walking along a road next to Foothills Park in Palo Alto, when she heard a strange sound – a mixture of squirrel, bird and raspy cat calls. The pitiful source of the sound was a tiny bobcat kitten, struggling up the side of the road and walking right up to the woman and her dog.
Worried that the kitten was hungry, but unsure whether the mother bobcat was waiting nearby to feed her baby, the lady decided to put the bobcat back in the bushes and quickly left. The next day, the same kitten was once again seen crossing the busy road. Because the bobcat’s mother may have been killed, it was imperative that the kitten be rescued before it was hit by a car or starved to death.
 Upon arrival at WERC, the healthy but hungry 8-week-old kitten, named Boronda after the lake near which she was found, began interaction with a bobcat surrogate mother, who wore a full-body costume and “walked” on hands and knees in complete silence.
“Mom” brought in food and spent hours playing with Boronda. This playtime – chasing a twig and pouncing on a stuffed animal – is intended to mimic bobcat behavior, to reinforce its hunting instincts and to provide socialization for the young, single animal. It also ensures that the bobcat has no positive contact with a human.
Carmel: One week after Boronda came to WERC, a second bobcat kitten arrived and joined her. The California Dept. of Fish and Game requires that mammals be released within a 3-mile radius of where they were found, but 12-week-old Carmel’s origin is unknown, as was her prior care, since she was passed among several people before being admitted to WERC.
She was a very healthy and ferocious bobcat. Upon meeting Boronda for the first time, there was a bit of snarling and slapping, but within minutes, the two were playfully romping, pouncing and purring with each other. The surrogate mother was no longer necessary. Indeed, Carmel growled at “mom” and refused any interaction with her.
Patterson: Ten days later, the two female bobcats were joined by an 8-week-old male which had been found walking across the UC Merced campus. It took him a bit more time to adjust to life with Carmel and Boronda, but the three little kittens are now the best of friends, sleeping on their shelf and eating 50 small rodents a day. They will remain together in the large outdoor enclosure until they are released at separate sites in the fall.
Sadly, two other bobcat kittens arrived in such poor health that they were not able to be rehabilitated and join the others. Tehama had been kept and fed by her finders for a week before she transferred to WERC. The little orphaned kitten was not weaned and had great difficulty eating from a bottle. She was weak and full of fleas and died seven days later from pneumonia.
Malech was rescued from under a car in San Jose. He was severely dehydrated, starving and anemic from the 22 ticks found on his head. Despite intensive medical care, his little body had already suffered such grievous damage that his internal organs failed and he was euthanized three days later.
Finally, there was Moraga, a 5-month-old bobcat who came to stay at WERC for three months. He was transferred from another wildlife center where he had been under constant medical care for two months.
Because of his young age and his close contact with humans during his time at that hospital facility, WERC gave extra attention to enforcing negative training, which ensures that the bobcat would remain wary of humans when he was successfully released back to his native habitat in May.
WERC, the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center, provides the community with rehabilitation services for orphaned, injured and sick native wildlife. Through its educational programs, WERC encourages a peaceful coexistence between civilization and our native wildlife. To contact WERC, call (408) 779-9372 or visit www.werc-ca.org.
