You’d think with all the stories that periodically break, we wouldn’t be so surprised and fascinated when we hear about animals caring for the young of a different species. Yet it seems we can never get enough of such stories (at least I know I can’t), and it always comes as a bit of a shock to see a gorilla, for instance, cradling a kitten.
This time around, the odd couple’s at least sort of from the same species. In South Carolina, a domesticated house cat is nursing a litter of baby bobcats. MSNBC reports that the baby bobcats were found after the abandoned house under which they lived in Newberry County, SC, was demolished.
Rescuers at Carolina Wildlife Care then introduced the bobcats to gray tabby Zoe. Zoe already had two kittens of her own, so it didn’t take much prompting to get her to adopt the little bobcats as well. She began nursing them in late April, so soon the bobcats must leave her care.
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They may be tiny now, but before too long the babies will look like this.
The bobcats can’t stay with Zoe for much longer than four or five weeks, because after that point they become a danger to smaller domesticated animals. Although Zoe’s kittens towered in size over the baby bobcats when they were first introduced, the wild cats will grow quickly.
While the kittens won’t weigh more than 15 pounds in adulthood, the bobcats will hit around 70 pounds full grown. Before they reach that point, however, the sharp claws and teeth they’ll soon develop will make them dangerous to Zoe and her kittens.
Still, the experts at Carolina Wildlife Care don’t doubt their decision to introduce the bobcats to Zoe for weaning. “It’s important that they get that nurturing and care from a species similar to their own,” said Joanna Weitzel, the executive director of the group.
And just as important as the bobcats’ introduction to Zoe is their upcoming removal to a custom-built habitat, where they begin to learn to live in the wild again and receive reduced interaction with humans. As Weitzel said, “if they lose their natural fear of humans, it’s almost like a death sentence.”
Carolina Wildlife Care made a special habitat in which to keep the baby bobcats for up to 18 months as they learn how to hunt. The total price tag for the habitat is around $2,000, and that’s not counting the cost of the live rodents the rescue will use as food and to teach the bobcats how to hunt. The rescue is hoping to receive donations to help deter the cost of looking after the bobcats.
I can’t help it; I am addicted to stories of different species of animals playing and bonding together. That’s probably why I was so obsessed with getting my dog and cat to cuddle. I love it the most, however, when mother animals adopt orphaned babies, particularly of another species, but I am not picky.
So I wish the bobcats the best, and hope that Carolina Wildlife Care gets all the support they need to take care of them. If you’d like more information on the rescue, including updates on the baby bobcats, check out their web site here.
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*(This image by Len Blumin is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
