What would you do if you came across a bobcat? What if that bobcat was just a baby who was going to die without help?
This happened to Ryan Berndt and he didn’t skip a beat. Berndt was just relaxing on his porch with his dogs drinking coffee when his neighbor walked over to his house. He told him that there was a bobcat kit laying on his driveway and he believed it was snake bitten. Berndt immediately went to help.
He said that the kit didn’t seem to have any snake bites, but was in bad condition. He was just laying there, flies flying around his eyes and everything. Berndt took that little bobcat, placed him in a crate, and took him inside his house.
In an attempt to help him drink, he poured a bit of water on the kit’s face which he was able to lick up a bit. He then put the kit by the AC to cool him down while he stepped away for a moment. When he returned, the kit was up and circling.
Berndt stated that his wife, Krista, volunteers with a dog rescue center so she posted about the kit in a dog rescue page on facebook. Soon, a wildlife rescue facility responded and was able to take the kit in. When Berndt was asked why he rescued this little bobcat, he simply responded with, “He was going to die.”
This wasn’t Berndt’s first time rescuing an animal. A while back, he saved a turtle he found and payed for him to have shell surgery, costing him a thousand dollars. He was prepared to do the same with this kit if need be.
The bobcat is currently in recovery at the wildlife rehab facility. He is hanging on and working on healing.
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(Editor’s note: Late Friday afternon we received word the bobcat kit mentioned in this story has passed away despite the efforts to save its life. While this was a wild animal, its story sends a reminder of the importance of making sure domestic animals have plenty of water as intense heat continues to dominate area weather).