1st Response Wildlife Helps Homeowner With An Easter Bobcat Mother and Kittens

Spring in the Sonoran Desert brings the blossoming of plants as well as the birth of wildlife babies.  We are blessed, here in Tucson and the surrounding desert to have an abundance of wildlife which, in many cases, is comfortable living in close proximity with humans.  Arizona, as a matter of fact is one of the few states where Bobcats, Raccoons, Ringtails, and sometimes, even Mountain Lions feel as much at home around people as they do, say, in the northern states, living in forests and hills-as far as possible from human interaction.

When there is no danger to the wildlife or to a homeowner’s children or small pets, a happy medium of each enjoying the other’s company is achieved.  However, if there is a clash or concern related to having wildlife, such as a Bobcat family living close to your home or business, then it may be time to give 1^st Response Wildlife a call.

Over Easter weekend, 1^st Response Wildlife was called to a home where a mother Bobcat had recently given birth to two kittens and had decided that an area just outside the homeowner’s door was as good a place as any to raise her young.  The babies, in the picture below, were very small and the mother very protective.  If they had decided to live on the desert side of a wall, in a den on the side of a wash, or under a tree, close to the home, things would have been different but, in this case where there could be small animals and visitors who had to walk right by them to get to the door into the home, it appeared best to consider relocating them.

With great care, 1^st Response Wildlife performed an open snare capture of the mother which resulted in her being placed in a locked transport. 

The kittens, barely able to see or move much beyond their location in the corner of the front patio area, were collected and placed in another protected carrier for transport.

Once the family was safely removed from the homeowner’s property, they were taken to a safe location where steps were taken to calm the mother down, provide water and natural food, and the babies and mother were placed in a transition cage.  This cage and the reunion of the family was the beginning of a protocol to return the Bobcat, with its kittens, back into the wild.

In a subsequent blog, when the Bobcat mother and her kittens are returned to the wild, a description of that process will be penned, along with pictures, to show how 1^st Response Wildlife works to protect and maintain the family unit, all the while, moving the family many miles from the original homeowner’s location so the kittens will grow up in a new location and not imprint with their original birthing location.

Currently, the reports of the process of returning the family to the wild are good.  The kittens are nursing well, the mother is comfortable in her new surroundings and, it is expected that she will be hunting and finding a new home for her young within a week, in a new location, but still not far from human habitation.

If you have small children, animals or feel that a family of Bobcats, Raccoons or other animals, native to the area should not be living as close to your family or business as they are currently, please give 1^st Response Wildlife a call to discuss safe and humane ways to work to potentially relocate them.

Thanks for considering 1st Response Wildlife 

Josh's Cell (24/7 Hours): 520-260-9517

Josh Waling is a humane Licensed Animal Trapper who catches and releases wildlife, removing animals including bobcats (lince), snakes, rattlesnakes (serpiente de cascabel), raccoons (mapache), pack rats, gila monsters (monstruos de gila), rabbits (canejo), owls, bats, hawks, ducks, squirrels (ardilla), peacocks, coatimundi (gato solo), skunks (mofeta), exotics, and domestic cats and dogs. He delivers service that is professional and fast and he is available 24/7.  Give him a call the next time you hear unusual noises in the attic or crawl spaces in your home or if you see wildlife eating your vegetation, creating nests, and raising their young too close to your pets or children or have an exotic sighting in your neighborhood. 520-260-9517 Thanks!