It all started on a warm summer afternoon,  when my hus­band was leaving the house.  He was heading down our road when all of a sudden he slammed on the brakes, my daughter jumped out of the truck and snatched up this lost or abandoned baby. Well, the baby was a wild born mother-raised Bobcat kitten, just barely old enough to be weaned. I was now the proud owner of my first exotic cat. That's how it started.

I didn't know then that this was the begin­ning of a whole new journey in my life. I must say it has become one the best things in my life. Ignorant of how to care for this baby, I phoned a friend for some information on the proper way to care for this kitten.

       

         Sherabie grew into a beautiful spotted loving girl. 

My domestics raised her, and Sherabie eagerly cared for their babies, to the point where I would have to hunt them down so their mother could feed them. This wasn't too hard, Sherabie would take them one by one and bring them into the closet in my bedroom. There she   would clean them and care for them.  She dearly loved the babies, and as she grew older the call of the wild came over her. She would cry out at night to the wild ones in the woods; it was the saddest sound to hear. She wanted a mate and babies of her own, but this wasn't possible, as she had been declawed on her front paws, and had no defense for existing in the wild. How could she hunt? How could she survive? She must remain here in her home and cage, as survival beyond her cage would be impossible, and she would surely die in the wild.

Then it happened! One summer day I was leaving the cage through the other door where her platform was di­rectly above the door. To this day I don't know how she did it, but she jumped from the platform and turned in mid air landing on top of my head, catapulted off and was gone in a second! We searched for days and weeks setting up live traps and walking the woods calling for her. She was gone and not coming back.

Months had gone by now and she was lost to us. I just prayed that she could survive without front claws. We had lost something very precious to us, and our biggest fear was that she would die out there.

One afternoon while driving back from town, I was about two miles from my house, when I spotted a Bobcat crossing the field in broad daylight, running right in front of my car. I slammed on the brakes and jumped out of the car, and called out her name. She stopped dead in her tracks, turned around and sat down and looked at me. I stood there and talked to her for a while. She didn't run just sat and looked at me. It was Sherabie, and it was as if she were trying to tell me, "It's okay, I'm allright now. You don't have to worry, I'm happy and alive, and thank you for loving me."

I've seen her several times since then. It's like she wants us to know she is surviving and she's happy and well. I sometimes feel that she is watching from the woods, checking our home where she was loved. I half­way expect her to show herself someday with babies at her side. That is what she wanted more than anything – to be a mom, and have babies of her own. She came into our life a frightened sick little girl, but she returned to the wild a gown up, healthy strong bobcat, wanting to fulfill her need of babies. I’m sure that the woods around us has become home to her offspring, and I pray that  the wild will be kind to them, for living in the wild can be cruel. 

Now it's over ten years later and we're still going strong. I have taken in Bobcats , Canadian Lynx, Siberian Lynx, and European Lynx, and recently three cougars have come to us to call this their home, the need for more cages continues to grow. This has all happened because of one tiny frightened little bobcat kitten named Sherabie, who showed us the love they are capable  of giving.

WE MISS YOU SHERABIE,  THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING US.

PLEASE HELP US  CONTINUE TO HELP THEM

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