Female bobcat

5/13/03 -5/23/2024

Rescued 6/4/03

Moved to Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge on December 29, 2023

Bailey Bobcat peeking out of the planter

Because she had only had a few weeks with her mother, she did not have the skills and training that would have taken her mom one to three years to impart. Without her mother's guidance in such critical areas as how to feed herself, how to defend herself and how to hide from man Bailey would not have survived a week in the wild.

It's Bailey's birthday and I think it's time to tell her story. I got a call from a woman who was panicking because she said she had seen a kitten out in her yard and this hawk was dive bombing the kitten and she ran out to grab it and it bit her.

It bit all the way through her thumbnail and her thumb and she took it to the shelter

because she couldn't keep a kitten and it was pretty feral. They told her that since it had bitten her they'd have to watch the cat for 10 days to make sure the cat didn't come up with rabies or she'd have to take the shots. She said "just watch the kitten" because she thought it was a pretty minor thing.

Then she went online and she started looking for pictures of what a bobcat kitten looks like

and she thought for sure that this was a bobcat and so she called me. I called Jamie because I was out of town at the time and I asked her to go down to the county pound and take a look at that bobcat and see if it was truly a bobcat, because if it was the law in Florida states

that you have to cut off the head of a wild animal and test it for rabies, unless the person is willing to take the rabies shots. The woman didn't want to take the rabies shots but she also

said she didn't want the head of the kitten cut off, so Jamie went down to the county pound and she said, "I'd like to see the kittens that you have for adoption" and when she spotted this obvious bobcat she said, "That's the one I want!"

And they said, "Oh no! No you don't want that one! That one's crazy it bites, and it's mad, it's hissing, and it's clawing! It's really, really feral! You do not want that kitten."

And she was like, "Nope! I'm in love. That's the one I want."

So she brought Bailey home and of course Bailey had to live under an alias for all these years because we didn't want her to be picked up and killed at a later date just because the bad guys hate us. They would use anything they possibly could to get law enforcement to do something terrible to us, like killing a cat that we had come to love.

So the woman who had originally rescued her was happy that she got a home at Big Cat Rescue

and of course we were happy to give her a home as well. But the problem was back then was we didn't think we could teach a a bobcat everything that they needed to know about living free. And this was the last time I think that that happened; Anasazi may have come after Bailey, I don't remember; but it was one of the two of them that Jamie said, "You know what I'm gonna try,

because she had heard from Lynn Cuny, that she had actually released kittens that had to come back years later with their own kittens and so Jamie wanted to try raising Bobcat for release to the wild.

And that very first bobcat that you guys may remember, that we did that with was Faith the bobcat. So that's Bailey's story now that she is now outside of the grasp of anybody who could harm her, and her story can finally be told.

It is sad to think that Bailey will never be able to roam free and make her own choices. It is even sadder still to know that more and more animals are being killed and orphaned as urban sprawl gobbles up the fields and forests that are home to so many wondrous creatures. The following year we had our first rehab and release of a native bobcat kitten. Read Faith's Story.

February 28, 2012

We believe Bailey had Panleukopenia, even though she was vaccinated against it. This was day 9 of Bailey the bobcat's recovery and the second meal she had eaten during her convalescence. She has made it through the worst and we are now very hopeful that she will make a full recovery.

June 15, 2013

Bailey Visits the Vet- October 27, 2014

Bailey Bobcat goes in to see Dr. Justin Boorstein

Bailey was refusing food and wobbling as she walked so we took her in for X-rays and diagnostics.

Dr. Justin Boorstein found an ulcer on her mouth and a spot on her lung and a high temp.

Bailey got fluids and antibiotics and will recover in our onsite Cat Hospital until she is well enough to go back outside.

May 11, 2015

July 3, 2017

Bailey Bobcat, take the time to smell the roses, uh or do I mean the "toes?"

November 2, 2017

Moses Bobcat says, "Bailey Bobcat is a real BEAUTY!" What do YOU THINK?

April 26, 2018

Bailey Bobcat lives with Moses Bobcat. They are often seen lounging in the shade of the foliage grooming each other.

May 3, 2018 Update

Just wrapped up a dental procedure. Bailey had 2 bad canines removed on her right side. She did very well and is recovering in the hospital over night.

May 23, 2020 Update

From Carole:

Bailey Bobcat is in the Recovery Hospital with a paw injury. This morning during feeding Keepers noticed that Bailey Bobcat was sitting in the high grass, holding up her front paw and hurling insults at Moses. He was growling back even though he usually takes her ill temper in stride. Afton called me to come help and by the time I arrived she had nets, a squeeze cage and Keepers; Angie, Becky and Dylan at the ready.

Bailey is one of our most aggressive cats and the situation was even worse because she shares space with a bobcat who is very protective of her. Thankfully, Afton and Becky were able to lure Moses into his feeding lockout, since he wouldn't go across the sky bridge to the far side of their cage. I sent Dylan in first to block the den entry and the rest of us brought in the catch cage and nets. This is my first time netting a cat, wearing a mask and glasses and with each breath the glass would fog over and I'd lose sight of her.

She ran into the den, but was caught in Dylan's net as Afton rushed in behind her with a second net. Between the lot of us we sandwiched her between the three nets and scooped her up to the squeeze cage, but she was SOOOOO mad at us she wouldn't turn to see she could escape us into the cage and just wanted to lunge and swipe and bite at us. Becky ran for a sheet to cover the cage, but before she got back Bailey had figured out the best place to be was in the transport and out of the nets. The rest you can see in the video. Sorry, I didn't have an extra person for filming earlier.

Dr. Justin has been consulted and Bailey is on pain meds and antibiotics and we are watching her on a live camera to see if we can get a better look at her without her smacking her paws against the side of the cage.

June 9, 2020 Update

Nearly halfway done with the tunnel that will connect Moses and Bailey to their new expanded enclosure.

Jamie Veronica and Victor at Bailey bobcat tunnel

June 12, 2020 Update

Moses and Bailey’s connecting tunne was completed today.

January 8, 2021

Moses, always the ham while Bailey is the lookout spent some quality time with these old friends and shared some stories over a bowl of catnip.

May 14, 2021

March 1, 2022 Moses and Bailey have a new home by Funcation!

May 31, 2024~Bailey Bobcat Has Passed Away

In 2002, an accredited sanctuary, Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, FL, rescued Bailey after a woman found her as a six-week-old bobcat kitten. The woman initially took Bailey to an animal shelter, thinking she was a domestic kitten. When she learned that Bailey was, in fact, a bobcat, she contacted the true sanctuary, which was more equipped to take in this wild predator. Big Cat Rescue developed a comprehensive rehabilitation plan for Bailey; however, due to her lack of exposure to hunting and surviving independently, it was determined that it would be best for Bailey to live her remaining years in captivity, ensuring her well-being and safety, as Big Cat Rescue had never rehabbed and released a bobcat kitten before back then.

Bailey arrived at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge in December 2023 and loved her new spacious habitat at Freedom Field. She found solace lounging on her firehose bench inside her heated nighthouse. She was often spotted exploring her new surroundings during the quiet of dusk. Last week, Dr. Kellyn took Bailey to our onsite veterinary clinic for an exam. The lab work revealed that Bailey was in the late stages of renal failure. Given her age and well-being, the difficult decision was made to euthanize Bailey humanely. She was 21. It is never easy to say goodbye to these wild predators, but we are honored to have provided Bailey the care she needed during her last months with us.

Bailey