RAISING LIVE REFERENCE

A number of years ago I wrote an article about my bobcat, Klaus, who has since become quite a celebrity (see Breakthrough Issue #42, page 60, "Do You Really Want a Pet Bobcat?"). He deserves this fame, as he is a beautiful bobcat and has helped me to illustrate many important aspects taxidermists should pay attention to while mounting a bobcat. Klaus is very photogenic and most cooperative posing. He is much more than a pet, he is part of my business. In this article I wrote that I would never get another bobcat.

Klaus is now nine years old and just as beautiful as ever. I haven't spent as much time with him as I would like to keep him real tame. Consequently, he doesn't trust me very much when he is in the house. It seems like the only time I want to get up close and cozy is when he needs shots, so he does have reason for this mistrust. This year for his shots, I first gave him oral tranquilizers. No effect. I finally got the job done but ended up with both of us exhausted and cat feces all over the room for me to clean up. (Next year, the vet will come here and we will stick-tranquilize him for his shots.) Nevertheless, Klaus completely forgave me as long as I was on the outside of his outdoor cage and he was on the inside. He comes up to me for a head-rub, all the time purring loudly. In the summer he loves for me to bring him a small handful of grass for him to eat. Also, when the corn in our garden is ripe, there is nothing he likes better than a cob of corn. He snatches it from me just as vigorously as he would a piece of wild meat and eats every last kernel. Another thing he enjoys in the summer is playing in a nice, fresh tub of water. I add stones or toys and he likes to "fish" them out. The only problem is that after a few days he decides that it can also be used as a litter box and it...

...Continued in the Winter 2002 Issue of Breakthrough.

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