Rehab Bobcat Release!
Today is the big day for the release of Rain and Dancer the Bobcats. Thanks to our first time partnership with The Nature Conservancy Florida we can give these precious bobcats a safe place in the wild to call home, the Conservancy’s Venus Flatwoods Preserve. Be sure to LIKE them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/
The cats, rescued in July 2015, were released to the Preserve on Thursday, February 4, 2016.
Venus Flatwoods Preserve is located in Highlands County, west of Lake Okeechobee, and has been protected and managed by The Nature Conservancy for over 20 years. This 100-acre property provides the perfect habitat for the bobcats. The preserve includes one of the few remaining areas of old growth longleaf pine forest in Florida and is home to many species of wildlife. The endangered red-cockaded woodpecker has been observed onsite. The property is surrounded by timber, citrus, and cattle ranch land, and its borders are not adjacent to highways or heavily trafficked areas that would endanger the cats.
“The Nature Conservancy’s Venus Flatwoods Preserve is the perfect location for these two young bobcats. We expect them to do very well in the healthy, maintained habitat of this protected property,” said Adam Peterson, Central Florida Fire and Land Management Specialist, The Nature Conservancy.
The sibling bobcats, named Rain (male) and Dancer (female), were rescued by Big Cat Rescue as kittens when they were found on the side of a highway without their mother in Highlands County. Thanks to the efforts of Big Cat Rescue’s bobcat rehabilitation team, the wild cats were provided with the care and training they needed to be returned to the wild. Cameras will be set up on the preserve in an effort to continue to monitor the now nine-month old cats.
“Rain and Dancer have grown up to become strong, healthy bobcats equipped with the skills to return to the wild where they belong,” said Jamie Veronica, President of Big Cat Rescue. “We are thrilled that they will be released on a vast, protected property where they will be able to find everything they need to thrive.”
Bobcats are found throughout Florida. They prefer deep forests, and are also adaptable to swamps, hammock, and rural landscapes, as well as urban and suburban backyards.
You can read more about their Rain and Dancer’s initial rescue here. http://bigcatrescue.org/4-bobcat-kittens/
Rain and Dancer have been released! Watch it via Periscope / Twitter herehttps://www.periscope.tv/w/1eaKboQOrreGX
Rain and Dancer’s Life in Videos
See Rain and Dancer getting their shots. We use a killed virus vaccine to protect them against the same cat diseases that your domestic cats can get.
Watch the video of Rain and Dancer, the bobcat kittens, moving from the on site Cat Hospital to the Rehab enclosures.
Rain and Dancer are all grown up and ready to go start their new life in the wild.
Today (Feb 4 2016) you can watch our Facebook feed for live streaming events around their release at https://www.facebook.com/bigcatrescue
Love Kittens?
If you love bobcats kittens and want to be part of our efforts to rescue them from certain death, rehab them for life in the wild and then have the pleasure of helping them get back to the wild where they belong, there are several ways you can help.
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Even if you can’t afford to help, you are their voice. Please be sure to subscribe and share all of our social channels. Just look for BigCatRescue on all of your favorite sharing sites. Use hashtags #BigCatRescue #bobcats and @BigCatRescue
