WASHINGTON – A bobcat that was trapped in a car’s grill and transported 50 miles is improving despite not eating well, according to caretakers at a wildlife rescue in Virginia.
“Since she’s an adult she likes to run after live prey and we only have dead things here for her to eat,” said Dr. Alexa Ortiz, one of the wildlife veterinary interns at the Wildlife Center of Virginia.
The animal was hit Thanksgiving Day by a woman who was driving from Gloucester County to her workplace in Richmond.
Ortiz said overall the animal is doing well.
“Typically we’re feeding either mice or whole rat. Sometimes we can get quail or chicken there as well. We’ve tried feeding her a little bit of goose meat,” Ortiz said. “Sometimes just a little cat food is smelly enough that they’ll come over and eat some of that.”
Bobcats live about 15 years in the wild. This one is estimated to be 5 years old because she has full-grown adult teeth, which are not broken or showing other signs of wear.
The impact of the crash bruised the bobcat’s lungs, cut her back and caused head trauma that initially suggested she might have vision issues. But Ortiz said the animal now can see fully and tracks the movements of anyone near her enclosure.
Ortiz described the bobcat as feisty.
“When she’s in the little den area and feels a little bit more cornered and she’ll actually growl, bare her teeth and lunge in your direction.”
“You’re usually never going to see them in your area if they are there. It’s definitely unusual to find them unless there’s something wrong with them,” she said.
Animal control officers sedated the 19-pound animal after the driver discovered it after arriving at her workplace in Richmond. Officials described it as an unusual case.
The bobcat will be released near where it was hit in Gloucester County in about 30 days – after drugs used to sedate and treat the animal are out of its system, per federal wildlife rules.
WTOP’s Kathy Stewart contributed to this report.
