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Tennessee woman rescues 'kitten' that turns out to be a bobcat
UPI ^ | 26 Sept 2019 | Ben Hooper

Posted on 09/26/2019 11:01:37 AM PDT by Red Badger

Sept. 25 (UPI) -- A Tennessee woman who rescued a kitten she spotted running across a road brought the feline into her car and took it home before discovering the creature actually was a baby bobcat.

Jill Hicks of Chattanooga said she was driving recently when she spotted the kitten running across the busy road and decided to rescue it.

"So I pulled over and surprisingly it didn't run from me," Hicks said in a Facebook post. "I put it in the car with me and it climbed all over me like a kitten would do, got in floorboard under my feet, and after stopping a couple of times to get it nestled into my lap, I finally got home with it."

Hicks named the animal Arwen. She said it wasn't until a neighbor came over to look at the kitten that its identity was revealed.

"I was going to go home from dinner, give her a bath, put her in the bed with me and when we decided she was a bobcat, I was like I probably better not do all of that," Hicks told WDEF-TV.

Hicks took Arwen to the For Fox Sake Wildlife Rescue, where rehabilitators confirmed the young animal was a bobcat.

Rehabilitator Juniper Russo said people can look for signs to determine whether a kitten actually is a young bobcat.

"Bobcat kittens always have spots in some form or another, whereas actual spotted markings are really rare in domestic cats and a bobcat kitten will sometimes, but not always, have black tufts on the ears, which are also possible in domestic cats, but pretty rare," Russo said.

Russo said Arwen will be cared for until the animal is old enough to be released back into the wild, likely around March.

Hicks said she has no regrets about her actions.

"Even though I thought she was a kitten, had I known she was a bobcat, in that small and in that high-trafficked area, I still would have done the same thing," she said.


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Outdoors; Pets/Animals; Society
KEYWORDS: animalrescue; bobcat; cat; kitten
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To: malach; Red Badger

I have re-read all the responses on this thread.

I don’t see any “stupid women” theme going here.

Just because the story happens to be about a woman, I don’t think there was any gender-based motive in posting this story or in the comments.

I am not sure this is the sword to die on. JMHO


41 posted on 09/26/2019 12:13:38 PM PDT by NEMDF
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To: Boogieman

Thank you for your possum post! I needed a good laugh!


42 posted on 09/26/2019 12:18:07 PM PDT by livius
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To: wardaddy

https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/getout/features/story/2016/jul/01/return-wild/372787/

Tennessee ranks No. 5 out of the 50 states
in terms of where one is most likely
to be killed by an animal.
(Texas is No. 1.)

So, which area wildlife should you beware of?
According to numbers compiled by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

Bees, wasps and hornets kill 58 people per year.
Dogs kill 28 people per year.
Cows kill 20 people per year.
Spiders kill 7 people per year.
Snakes kill 6 people per year.
Bears kill less than one person per year.

Bobcats not on the list


43 posted on 09/26/2019 12:18:34 PM PDT by HangnJudge
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To: yarddog

I had a full size dachshund a couple of years ago. He found a bobcat under my shed and the fight was on. His muzzle got cut up pretty good, but the bobcat lost.


44 posted on 09/26/2019 12:27:31 PM PDT by Texas resident (Democrats=Enemy of People of The United States of America)
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To: Red Badger
The bobbed tail (hence "bobcat") was not a clue?


45 posted on 09/26/2019 12:30:04 PM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo)
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To: Bonemaker

Maybe she thought it was a Manx Cat...................


46 posted on 09/26/2019 12:31:20 PM PDT by Red Badger (Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain...................)
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To: malach

It’s about cats....................


47 posted on 09/26/2019 12:38:43 PM PDT by Red Badger (Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain...................)
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To: Boogieman

48 posted on 09/26/2019 12:40:19 PM PDT by Red Badger (Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain...................)
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To: Red Badger

We adopted a snowshoe kitten several years ago. Toby was very loving for the first year, then without warning would bite of scratch my wife on occasion. Got so bad we had to put him down.

Even at the end, Toby would jump up on the bed in the morning when we opened the bedroom door and nuzzle with my wife’s face and fall asleep.

Every night while I was laying or sitting on the couch watching TV, he would jump up on the couch to lay next to me with either a paw or his head on my leg. He an I went at it a few times, but he knew I was the boss. My wife wouldn’t wack him when he got too aggressive. I’d smack him on his rib cage with my hand and he’d run off to hide.

My wife and I still miss him for his good traits. Vet said it was a neurological issue and is why his former owners gave him to the shelter.

Toby wasn’t afraid of anything or anybody.


49 posted on 09/26/2019 12:41:42 PM PDT by WASCWatch
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To: wardaddy

I bet he hasn’t moved in years.....................


50 posted on 09/26/2019 12:43:39 PM PDT by Red Badger (Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain...................)
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To: WASCWatch

Perhaps its part of the breed..................

51 posted on 09/26/2019 12:45:41 PM PDT by Red Badger (Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain...................)
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To: dhs12345

Banned? Why?...........


52 posted on 09/26/2019 12:46:46 PM PDT by Red Badger (Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain...................)
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To: Gamecock

He met a new girl..................


53 posted on 09/26/2019 12:47:35 PM PDT by Red Badger (Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain...................)
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To: Red Badger

Bob’s Cat ?


54 posted on 09/26/2019 12:49:12 PM PDT by butlerweave
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To: Red Badger
Out here in the desert southwest this not that unusual, And pretty much always under the same circumstances, kittens found. I have known 6 different friends in my life that have raised and owned Bobcats, Ocelot, or Lynx. If you respect them they make very intelligent pets.


55 posted on 09/26/2019 12:51:29 PM PDT by Openurmind
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To: Openurmind

Same with foxes..................


56 posted on 09/26/2019 12:52:14 PM PDT by Red Badger (Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain...................)
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To: HangnJudge

It was long ago

70s or 80s


57 posted on 09/26/2019 12:56:07 PM PDT by wardaddy (I applaud Jim Robinson for his comments on the Southern Monuments decision ...thank you)
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To: Red Badger

Well as my father used to say: “It is easier to catch a bobcat than it is to let go of it.” Mental image always makes me laugh.


58 posted on 09/26/2019 12:56:48 PM PDT by CommerceComet (Hillary: A unique blend of arrogance, incompetence, and corruption.)
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To: CommerceComet

Same as a “Tiger by the tail”.............What do you do with it?.....................


59 posted on 09/26/2019 12:59:06 PM PDT by Red Badger (Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain...................)
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To: Red Badger

Once had a regular campsite I frequented for years and years. The Foxes became my buddies and even tried to come and sleep with me. Kind of cool to watch the older generations teach the younger generations that I was cool and could be trusted. :)


60 posted on 09/26/2019 1:01:19 PM PDT by Openurmind
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