BravoTango

We were right in the middle of doing an evening Facebook LIVE video when a call came in from Chris Scott of Raccoon Rescue in Milton (near Pensacola) Florida.  A 100-acre burn had separated a mother bobcat from two of her kittens.  We can’t know for sure, but really hope she was able to safely move the rest of her litter before conditions deteriorated to the point of having to abandon all hope for the last two boys.  They were turned into the local rehabber, but she wasn’t familiar with hand rearing bobcats, so she went to the Internet to find out what she needed to do next.

Finding out that the “next” could be 18 months of intensive training to get these bobcats proficient in hunting, hiding from humans, and everything their mom would take a couple years teaching them.  Meanwhile, their sharp little claws and teeth were shredding her hands and arms.  Chris was delighted to find Big Cat Rescue and to hear that we would drive 6.5 hours each way to pick them up… even if it meant driving right into the path of Tropical Storm Alberto.

At first light, Jamie Veronica began the long drive.  As she approached the panhandle of the state, so did the deadly tropical storm that killed two newsmen who were driving their news van when a tree fell on it and killed them both.  Undeterred, Jamie sent back images of her watch warning her of flash flooding and the radar images of the dreaded cyclonic pattern that often results in full-blown hurricanes.

We don’t know, but we hope she survived.

Despite Florida’s propensity for hurricanes and tidal flooding, a lot of people want to move here.  That’s what caused these kittens to lose their home.  A new housing development was going in and in order to make it easier to build they were slashing and burning a 100-acre parcel of land.  A bulldozer operator found the kittens under a pile of burnt logs and thus began Bravo and Tango’s journey to a local rehabber and then to Big Cat Rescue.

When the kittens are old enough, they have to be returned to the same county (Santa Rosa) for release back to the wild.  Thankfully, Chris Scott has a relationship with a local Indian tribe who will allow the bobcats to be released on their land where they do not allow hunting of bobcats.  Meanwhile, they will be bottle fed until they are weaned, and maybe even get a domestic cat mom, if we can find a suitable one in our foster program.  As soon as they have a dedicated camera on them, we will post it here.

Bravo is bigger and has darker stripes down his back.  He eats better than his smaller brother, Tango.

One month Old

It’s weigh-in time for the kittens. Bravo weighs 2 pounds 4.2 oz and his big brother Tango 2 pounds 5 oz.

Big Cat Rescue has decades of experience rehabbing and releasing bobcats back to the wild where they belong. We provide huge, naturalistic enclosures where these cats can learn or perfect their hunting skills before being released back to the wild. We have trained staff who are experts at capturing an injured bobcat or hand-rearing orphaned bobcats until a surrogate can be found.

We go to great lengths to keep these wild cats from imprinting on humans and monitor their care via surveillance cameras to make sure they are thriving. When they are healed, or old enough for release (about 18 months of age) we find the best habitat possible for sustaining them and set them free to live out the life that nature intended.

Learn more at BigCatRescue.org/bobcat-rehab/

Bobcat Rehab Update Feb 7 2019

Update 4/9/2019 Bravo and Tango, Running Wild and Free

Bravo and Tango are now running free in the wild which is their birthright.
More photos and video coming soon.

Update 4/12/2019

Bravo and Tango came to the sanctuary as bottle fed babies. Now they are full grown bobcats ready for the wild. Watch as they were set free.

Summary Video Posted 4/15/2019

A 100-acre burn had separated a mother bobcat from two of her kittens. Wild bobcat brothers, Bravo and Tango, were orphaned as a result of clear-cutting forest for development in the panhandle. The brothers were raised together at Big Cat Rescue in the Rehab and Release Program. Here is a glimpse into what it looks like (and feels like) to release them back into the wild. Keeper Brittany put her GoPro on Operations Manager Kathryn for a first-person perspective. You can hear, feel and see the emotions in this short clip.

For a longer look at their journey check out – https://youtu.be/uyYLSaTOasY

You can watch the high-quality Explore.org webcam in the Bobcat Rehab center 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Find the Bobcat Rehab webcam link at BigCatCams.com

There are many ways to donate:  BigCatRescue.org/donate/

There are even ways to help for free: BigCatRescue.org/help-free/

There are many ways to get involved: BigCatRescue.org/get-involved/