Surgery saves N.S. bobcat caught in snare

A wildlife rehabilitation centre in Nova Scotia has saved a bobcat that got trapped in a snare last week.

Dr. Mikaela Jahncke, a veterinarian with Hope for Wildlife, said she originally spotted the bobcat stuck in a fence with a snare wrapped around its abdomen. Her team caught him and brought him to the farm in Seaforth for an assessment.

“He was pretty angry for the state of his wounds,” Jahncke said. “He was hissing, swatting, you wouldn’t necessarily guess something was wrong with him.

“Once he was sedated we were able to assess the extent of his wounds. He had full thickness wounds all the way around his abdomen. He had a snare caught around him. It was all the way through the skin and to the muscle.”

Jahncke said the bobcat didn’t suffer any damage to its internal organs, so they removed the snare, cleaned up the wound, and gave the animal painkillers and antibiotics ahead of a surgery, which lasted more than three hours.

“It was a long process…between cleaning the debris, the pus that accumulated from the bandage, removing any dead tissue, making sure there were no wounds going into his abdominal cavity, and then stitching up him up all the way around his body,” she said.

Jahncke said the bobcat is doing well post-surgery, although he appears ready to check out of the hospital after his extended stay.

“He’s making it difficult for us to assess his wound while he’s awake because he’s quite feisty and a wild animal,” she said. “He’s definitely wanting to get back out to the wild.”

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.