The Shubenacadie Wildlife Park is looking after an injured animal seldom seen by many people in Nova Scotia. It’s a young bobcat, rescued from a field in nearby Truro late last week.
The bobcat is about a year old, and is currently being kept in the recovery section of the Wildlife Park.
The animal was found weak and malnourished in a Truro field last week.
Chantelle Paris saw it from her home and came out on the sidewalk when she saw how sick it appeared to be.
"It wasn't moving. We were out looking at it for about five or ten minutes and had our cameras out, and it still didn't move. Then our cousin Jamie came along and called Department of Natural Resources," says Paris.
The bobcat offered little resistance when DNR officers came to collect him and bring him to the wildlife park.
Bobcats eat small animals which are hard to find under heavy snow, like snowshoe hare, moles and birds. Recent mild temperatures mean bobcats are now on the prowl.
"Things are warming up. The snow pack is going down. A lot of other animals, specifically their food, are out running around so of course it's more available for them to catch, and then of course, you put on top of that this is the beginning of mating season," says Andrew Hedba, zoology curator at the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History.
There seems to be more bobcats showing up in backyards and on videos. Some say it's rare, but Hedba offers a different perspective.
"It's one of these things, they're somewhat on the secretive side. So I may see two or three a year, but then of course I live on one side of the province and travel back and forth. Most people will never see one at all, even if they spend time in the woods.
The road to recovery for the bobcat is expected to be at least a couple months, before he can be released back to the wild.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh.
