Imagine being a bobcat, minding your own business, then wham. Next thing you know, you're not only hit by a car but dragged along, head stuck in the grill. That was the grim reality for one Pennsylvania bobcat back in March, who arrived at Raven Ridge Wildlife Center with two broken legs and a serious case of bad luck.
Turns out, even in dire straits, some creatures just get all the breaks – literally, in this case. Her bone fractures were remarkably clean, prompting surgeons to operate. Two months later, after what must have felt like an eternity of indoor recovery, the bobcat was doing "fantastic" and "starting to act like a bobcat" again, according to the center's director, Tracie Young. Which, for a bobcat, probably means less purring and more plotting.
A Cage, a Coincidence, and a Kindness
The next step: move outside. Our recovering feline needed space to stretch those newly mended limbs and build some serious muscle. This meant a custom-built enclosure. The problem? Time and money. Standard dog kennel builders quoted eight months and thousands of dollars, which, for a bobcat on a tight schedule, simply wouldn't do.
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Start Your News DetoxEnter Dawn, the center's photographer, who, on a whim, called her neighbor Glen. Glen, as fate would have it, owned a kennel-building business. He could whip up a custom cage in just two weeks. Because apparently, that's where we are now: bobcats getting custom digs faster than most people get their kitchen renovated.
Then, just as construction began, a donation arrived that felt less like a coincidence and more like cosmic intervention. A letter from the husband of the late Raven Minervino explained that his wife had been a staunch supporter of the center and requested donations in her memory instead of flowers. The amount? Precisely enough to cover the bobcat's new, rather swanky, enclosure.
Now, the bobcat is exploring her new digs, exercising, and generally living her best, wild-ish life. She's gained ten pounds, hitting a healthy 19 pounds, and Raven Ridge plans to install a plaque on the cage in Minervino's memory. It’s a pretty sweet ending for a creature who started the year with a very bad day.
