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Ode to Big Bob |
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This page is a love story and a memorial to my favorite boy! |
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I think, perhaps, this is a love story. I met Big Bob on my first day volunteering at La Guardar Wildlife Center . He was so grand and magnificent. Like a big cat. So regal and placid at times. I learned to fix his breakfast and to manipulate the door between the run and the living area so I could get in and clean the living area (with him in his run), then leave his plate of food and let him in, then fix the gate so I could close the run and clean that too. After he ate, he would go into the run and bask in the sun, Then as I went by during the day, he would talk to me. Fluent bobcat. But to me when I asked him if he liked his food, it sounded like he said "Good", and sometimes it sounded like he said "I Love You" He watched the center and loved it when we stopped to talk to him as we walked around. Very social. The thing is, it was amazing he could respond to people like that. He had no reason to trust people at all. |
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He was blackmarketed by a dog fighting ring. They capture bobcats, choke them down (crushing his windpipe) to make them unconcious - then trim teeth, claws, put ropes into leg so they can pull them back if they try to run. They used him in fights with dogs for bets. After they finished with him, they left him injured- to die, but he crawled onto a porch. Sheriff called JungleJudi who does chemical capture. Big Bob had no use of his back legs, and had over 200 canine holes in his body.. His ears were torn up from untreated ear mites (rubbing on cage bars for the itching). This resulted in a hearing loss. He had fatty liver disease because of poor diet. Judi nursed him back to health with much veternary care, close monitoring, and lots of love. He recoved walking ability and had 6 good years with her at the Center. He had many health needs, such as a special diet, diutetics for fluid retention, kidney failure which required treatment and close monitoring, but he enjoyed his life. He watched people and seemed content most of the time. He was with Judi 6 years and I had 2 years of his company. Finally one day, he couldn't eat and was throwing up (kidney failure). Judi had promised that when the time came, we would let him go without pain...and did so, though it broke our hearts to lose him. |
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He is buried at the Center with a bobcat statue over his grave and we still feel his spirit at peace here. I still miss him, but I feel that God must have a place in Heaven for him where he may run. Wild and Free.... |
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