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| Hoover is the perfect example of
what can happen when man interferes with nature.
Like all bobcats, Hoover was born to be wild.
She was born to run, to learn to hunt for her
own food, to grow and mate with her own kind and,
in time to have young of her own.
We don’t know how or why she came to
be captured but we do know that some well-meaning
person decided she was too cute and cuddly and
would make a nice pet. For the first very impressionable
few weeks of her life, she was treated as a
domestic cat, given the wrong food and allowed
to sleep with her new ‘owner. After a
month or so, her ‘owner’ discovered
that it is illegal in BC to keep a wild animal
in captivity and that her new kitten was not
doing so well! Hoover needed help and she needed
it fast. |
| She arrived at Critter Care barely
six weeks old, already in poor condition, suffering
from malnutrition and almost hypothermic. Her
blood sugar levels were so erratic, she kept ‘crashing’
and eventually became comatose. Fearing the worst,
Gail Martin made the decision to take her out
of the Centre in order to provide 24 hour, one
on one care in the quiet of her own home. It was
touch and go! After 48 hours of round the clock
care and monitoring, Gail needed sleep. She tucked
Hoover into a heated incubator, murmured a quick
prayer and lay down for a while. |
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| When she awoke suddenly in the wee
small hours, she hurried over to the incubator
expecting to find a dead bobcat on her hands.
Instead, two bright, inquisitive eyes stared back
at her. Hoover was on the mend. As her appetite
returned, she began to fill out, vacuuming up
everything put before her – hence her name!
In the hope that she could eventually be released,
she remained at Gail’s home isolated from
further human contact. |
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Around that time Gail received a
call from Fort St. John where they had a baby
lynx of approximately the same age and it was
suggested that both babies be sent to a rehabber
in Dawson Creek so that they could be raised together.
Four weeks later, now happy, healthy and chubby,
Hoover was shipped off to yet another home until
she would be ready for release. But again, the
best intentions in the world did not create the
ending that was planned. Ten months later, the
rehabber in Dawson Creek phoned to say ‘Gail,
this bobcat doesn’t want to be wild –
she’s nothing but a little house cat!’
So, in July of 2002, instead of being released,
Hoover returned to Critter Care. Thanks to the
Vancouver Foundation and the Irene Joy Stewart
and Florence Sheddon Endowment Fund for Domestic
and Wild Animal Welfare, a beautiful new cage
had been constructed for her. Gail and her volunteers
have filled it with hanging toys, tree stumps
to climb on, barrels to hide in, and a shed to
sleep in. And, the minute she arrived, she recognized
Gail instantly. She was one happy cat! Back where
she had been loved and nursed back to health.
Her motor revved up and just like any domestic
cat, the sound of her purring could be heard several
feet away! |
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While Critter Care’s aim
is always to release back to the wild the animals
that come into our care – there are occasions
when it is not possible to do so. Gail says
‘ things happen for a reason. Hoover is
happy. She is healthy. She knows who and what
she is. But more importantly she will and has
become an ambassador for Critter Care and for
all wild animals. She will be a living reminder of the wonders
of nature, the importance of retaining a natural
habitat where these animals can grow and thrive,
and of the damage people can do when they intervene
in the lives of wild animals. It would have
been better if Hoover could have been released
but we must think of her as a gift!’ And
we do.
Mavis Sutton,
President Critter Care Wildlife Society |
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