Thanksgiving is a time to spend with your family and friends. For most people, commuting on Thanksgiving can be a pain. You have to deal with traffic overflow, people in bad moods, but most of all the animals that decide to commute as well. One woman accidentally picked up the strangest hitchhiker on her way to university. She just didn’t know it. When she pulled into the parking lot at Virginia Commonwealth University an hour later, she couldn’t believe what she found.
23 year old woman accidentally picks up a bobcat.
Lodged in the grill of her Prius was a beautiful adult bobcat. The creature was not too pleased about her predicament. Knowing the animal needed help, the woman quickly contacted Richmond Animal Care and Control (RACC). Around 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving 2017 animal control officer Barbara Jones, who was on-call, phoned RACC Director Christie Peters.
“I just finished making a chocolate pie, got the call, and was, like ‘Dad, you want to go help me get a bobcat out of a car grille?’” Peters wrote on Facebook. In the spirit of the holiday, saving a life quickly became a family affair.
Once they arrived on the scene, they could tell how uncomfortable the bobcat was. She had been suspended above the highway by a wire and a piece of plastic stuck below her rib cage. Thankfully, her injuries seemed minor, considering the long journey she had made.
Image by Richmond Animal Care and Control
A Thanksgiving story to remember
Peters and her father brought the sleepy bobcat back to the Wildlife Center of Virginia for treatment, but upon arrival the cat was awake again. “The bobcat was bright, alert and growling at Dr. Alexa,” The Wildlife Center of Virginia said in a statement, “though the cat’s head movements indicated the presence of head trauma and possible vision loss.”
Image by Richmond Animal Care and Control
The bobcat was examined by the on-call vet and found healthy. She only had a cut on her back and some bruises.
“The following morning, Dr. Alexa was happy to find that the bobcat was extremely feisty,” the release stated. “The bobcat was moved to the Center’s outdoor Bear Pen enclosure so that the staff could continue to safely monitor the bobcat. Throughout the weekend, the bobcat remained bright and alert.”
Image by Wildlife Center of Virginia
She proved to be a picky eater during her stay. Her caretakers assumed she liked to catch her own food instead. Luckily she only had to stay there for a month before being released back into the wild. While this Thanksgiving story has a happy ending, it is also a cautionary tale for all motorists. If you think you hit something or see an injured animal by the roadside, stop the car — even if it means being late to work.
Featured Image by Richmond Animal Care and Control
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