More from the wildlife centre

[tiggymalvern]

Things have eased off seriously at the wildlife centre over the last few weeks. Instead of barely finishing (or just plain not finishing) in the baby mammal room by the time I leave, the last two weeks I've been running through both the mammal room and the bird room by myself, and I'm still left with time to spare. Which means I've had chance to visit the other inhabitants.


The last few of this year's raccoons still waiting for release, in the outside pens. They're so big now! All of my beloved opossums are gone, which is both good and a little sad :-(


This is Bear. Bear's a bobcat, who was found as a small kitten by some people who completely stupidly (and even more illegally) kept him. They brought him to Sarvey when he became a big, boisterous adolescent who had never learned to play with his claws in, by which time he was completely human-adapted and therefore unreleasable.


Bear is now a close to middle-aged and slightly fat bobcat, living out his life alone in a wire pen.


But Bear's really just a big kitty, who loves having his chin rubbed as much as any kitty does. He adores people, and comes to the wire purring - such a deep purr! - for any human who visits his pen (though he likes women more than men).


Everyone at Sarvey feels so sorry for Bear, especially over the summer, since no-one has chance to really spend time with him, and he gets lonely. We currently have a new bobcat kitten, which is kept in the farthest pen from the buildings and permanently covered with tarps. We're almost half-hoping the kitten isn't releasable either so it could be a friend for Bear :-( People, if you ever find a young wild animal, enjoy its company for an exceptionally privileged few hours, and then hand it over to the experts.

Driving home from the wildlife centre yesterday, an exceptionally privileged me.

Comments

[iibnf.livejournal.com]

They are lovely! Bear's adorable! So are the racoons, I wish we had them here.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Bear's just gorgeous. Which makes it all the more sad that he lives the way he does, instead of roaming the woods like he should :-(

I used to think raccoons were cute until I started working with them. Like parrots, they're much better kept at a distance where their evil natures can't reach!

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Chimps are innately nasty pieces of work, especially when kept in environments that aren't stimulating enough. Bear at least isn't psychotic, just bored sometimes. He has the advantage of coming from a family of animals that naturally sleep 20 hours out of 24.

Bear just wants to please, and he's something of a 'cute' mascot for the centre - he gets publicity and helps brings in donations for the rest of the animals who do get released, so he helps in his own confined way.

[tameiki.livejournal.com]

Poor Bear! I hope the other kitten can become a friend for him if he proves unreleasable. Wild animals, as cute as they can be, should be left alone. As hard as it was for me the other night with the bunny, I let nature takes its course :(

Those raccoons are so cute - especially since I get to ooh and aaah at them through your pictures and don't have to deal with them personally :)

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Hopefully the kitten can be released where it belongs, but if there are problems, Bear's pen can be divided, so we could put the other cat on the other side of a fence to see if they'd adapt to one another without risk if they didn't get on.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

I envy you your contact with so many lovely animals. :-)

I can see the temptation to take a cute little bobkitten home as a pet. If I had about 1% less sense than I do, and I weren't married to the Voice of Reason, I'd probably have all manner of seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time pets.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

I envy you your contact with so many lovely animals. :-)

And all I have to do to earn it is to volunteer myself to clean up a lot of shit XD

A tiny bobcat kitten must be so cute. Cute does not automatically equal good pet, however. I've never understood people keeping such unhandle-able things as chipmunks, among others.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

You've seen a wild one? Now I'm jealous! They're pretty much top of my list of 'need to see', along with cougars and porcupines XD

[imre-nico.livejournal.com]

:|

Poor Bear.

It would be nice if they could find him a captive-born one as a companion. Those are always being surrendered to zoos by fucktards who have no idea what they were getting into.

You'll see a wild one when you least expect it- usually at night. The two times that stand out in my memory are surprising one in the driveway of our summer house in our headlights, and having to stop as one puddle-hopped across Tinkham road on the pass, violently shaking its feet with every step.

...Apparently no kitties like wet feet, no matter how big they are. XD

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

I keep thinking maybe I'll see one around here one night - we do have them in these woods out here by the State Park. Most of the neighbours who've lived here for years have seen them, but it's rare.

I think they'd be reluctant to take on another specifically for Bear in case they didn't get on - Bear's never had chance to socialise with another cat.It would be terrible if they ended up with two lonely bobcats....

[moonriddler-mim.livejournal.com]

oh those are so cute! *pets raccoons*

Bear is gorgeous! bobcat, is that kind of like a lynx?

nice weather formation going on there in the last photo! *_*

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Bobcats are part of the lynx genus, so they're closely related. They're found further south than lynx are, lynx stick to Canada.

I loved the way the clouds seemed to be swirling and spiralling into that thin patch of sun, like a black hole :-)

[pretentioustfu.livejournal.com]

Awwwww. Cuteness for the win.

Oh, and your icon for the OP? It's killing me. Proverbially of course, but so, so, so sad. I mean, am I crazy that of all the fictional sad scenes ever, that one makes me want to cry so much? *sniffle*

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Hey, I've bawled my eyes out at so many books, films and TV series over the years, I'm definitely not one to criticize XD

[pretentioustfu.livejournal.com]

Yeah. To me, their relationship was just so poignant and touching, and I find that so sad how it ended. *wibble*

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Oh, bear. so adorable. Does he have toys?

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

He's not a toy kind of boy, nothing stays new for long enough to keep his interest, sadly. His best toys are people!

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

SOCUTE I want to take him home even though I know he'd kick my ass.