By Nancy Cowing Umphres

The male bobcat kitten Hagrid, who was brought to our center after his mother and sibling were killed by a bulldozer, continues to thrive and grow. I am sad to say another tragedy has brought him a little sister.
Two friends were driving along a back road near McAllen when they came upon a bobcat on the side of the road. They stopped to see if the cat was injured or dead. Sadly they discovered that she was deceased, and on closer inspection found that she was a nursing female. They then began to search the tall grass for her kittens. It didn't take long to find one little terrified baby who they wrapped in a T-shirt and put in their car. One of the men had read about bobcats and knew that they usually produced more than one kitten, so they continued to search, but to no avail.
The kitten became their top priority over the next week. They took turns caring for her, even at times taking her to work with them. She had much difficulty accepting the bottle as most wild animals do, and feeding time was a trial of wills. They made a special formula of KMR kitten milk and ground turkey as she was almost of weaning age. She continued to refuse to eat on her own and they became very concerned.
A visit to a local veterinarian on their next day off brought them to fellow wildlife rehabilitator Valerie Ciomperlik in Edinburg, and in turn I was called to see if I could take the kitten. I was thrilled to have a sibling for Hagrid and was just about to take my mother to her doctor in McAllen for a check-up, so we set up a time to meet at Petsmart, our favorite rendezvous point.
About five minutes after the call from Valerie, another call came in from Sullivan City. A very nice lady had found an injured crested caracara in her backyard, asked if we would please come pick it up. My sister Dina was visiting at the time, so another cage was added to her vehicle and we were on our way.
All things considered, the day went well; the appointment and all the pick-ups went smoothly. I had failed in the rush to tell my mother about the caracara, so she looked a bit skeptical as we left the highway and bumped along the back roads of Sullivan City in search of the home with the injured bird. The bobcat kitten in turn decided to tell us all her woes in a high-pitched screech for most of the three-hour drive home, and then proceeded to let loose a very aromatic poo that made one gasp for air out the window. Not to be outdone, the caracara countered with a projectile poo of his own, and as caracaras are carrion eaters, his by far outdid the bobcat by much.
The kitten was a nightmare of force feeding for about a week before she calmed down enough to eat on her own. I had to keep her and Hagrid separate at first due to his uncontrolled enthusiasm at having a sibling. We named the kitten Olympie and she was soon able to handle her own with Hagrid. As I write this I can look out the window at their cage at the two of them having a friendly wrestle.
The caracara is recovering from a wing injury in the flight cage with two of his own species, and hopefully will be releasable very soon.

(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.)