Ariel's Rescue

Watch the rescue of Ariel bobcat. See how her rehab is going, and what her future holds.

In July a woman called and said her son had a bobcat his dog had dragged in, as a kitten, four years ago. She had been living in the house as a pet. Now he was expecting a baby and was afraid the bobcat would harm the child, so he wanted to find a home for Ariel, but he wasn't licensed to have her.

In the state of FL it is illegal for anyone to take a wild animal from an unlicensed person, so I contacted the FWC, explained the situation, and since Ariel was a native bobcat, Captain Hooker told me we could bring her in under our rehab permit and try to rehab her. At the end of the rehab time limit, which would be up the end of this month, we would see if she was ready for release, or if she could be released to our captive population, under our captive wildlife permit.

We gave rehab our best shot and Ariel can kill in a confined space, but she will boldly walk right up to anyone she thinks has food, and that is never going to work in the wild. It will get her killed, and could very well get someone hurt. While I had Captain Hooker on the phone I asked if we can now move Ariel into our captive population. She asked for a letter from our vet, which I have sent her, so we should know shortly if the FWC will allow Ariel to stay with us.