By Nancy Cowing Umphres

The bulldozer engine roared as the man prepared to clear off yet another natural area. It was early morning and he had a long hot day of work ahead of him. The brush cracked and snapped as clouds of dust filled the air. Suddenly a slight movement in the large pile of bushes and trees caused him to stop. He climbed down and cautiously approached the area.
A bobcat lay in front of him, crushed and injured beyond help. He stood watching as she took her last breath. On closer examination he noticed that she was a female, and his heart sank at the thought of the kittens that may also have been mangled. He decided to shut off the dozer engine and at least have a look.
The man walked carefully around the perimeter of the pile. The silence was only broken by the occasional song of a mockingbird. He was about the give up and resume his work when he heard a sharp screech. He stopped frozen in his tracks and looked down. The tiny bobcat kitten was within inches of his boots. Its coat was a perfect camouflage against the dry grass. The kitten let out another pitiful cry, calling in vain for its lost mother and siblings.
The man carefully picked up the sad little orphan bobcat and held it gently against his chest. An uncomfortable lump had formed in his throat as he stood there. What was he going to do now? He took the kitten back to his work truck and called his wife. He wanted to adopt the kitten, he told her; what else could he do? His wife told him she would look for help for the kitten but that they couldn't keep it as a pet. It was a wild animal and wild animals don't make good pets.
The woman made a few calls and was given the phone number of Zapata Wildlife Rescue. The man rushed to his home and gave the kitten some milk, and within four hours from its rescue the three-week-old male bobcat was safely at our facility.
I know I might sound like a broken record at times but the above story is so important. These people did all the right things, therefore the bobcat will eventually be able to return to the wild where he belongs. In the many years that I have cared for injured and orphaned wild animals, the most traumatic and depressing stories are from people who take on the responsibility of adopting a wild animal without thinking of the consequences.
I am still amazed and a little bit horrified -- okay, very horrified -- by the things people do. The wrong diet, caging, and care, or lack of care, cause some real nightmare situations that have kept me up more nights than I want to remember. If there is a glimmer of hope, I must try, but in many cases it's kinder to end the misery.
A friend asked me recently how I coped with the losses that go along with wildlife rescue, and did it get any easier with experience. I told her that I still break down and probably always will, especially with preventable cases, or as I call them, "if only." If only they had looked up the proper and feeding schedule. If only they had kept the animal warm and away from stress. If only they had not tried to raise a wild animal in the first place.
Many years ago I attended a course sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States. It covered capture techniques and stress-related problems for animal control officers as well as wildlife rehabilitation. Dr. John Grandy was one of the speakers. I will never forget his advice. He said, "If the work you do ever stops bothering you, you should probably quit and find something else to do." How true.

(The Zapata Wildlife Rescue Center can be contacted by mail at 6812 STOP 68A, Zapata, TX 78076-2913, by phone at (956) 765-8526, or e-mail at dreams@zapata.border.net. Those interested in visiting should call ahead for directions.)