What's killing sea otters? Parasite strain from cats

Genetic link found between deadly pathogen and wild and feral cats on land

Date: August 22, 2019

Source: University of California - Davis

Many wild southern sea otters in California are infected with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, yet the infection is fatal for only a fraction of sea otters, which has long puzzled the scientific community. A new study identifies the parasite's specific strains that are killing southern sea otters, tracing them back to a bobcat and feral domestic cats from nearby watersheds.

The study, published this week in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, marks the first time a genetic link has been clearly established between the Toxoplasma strains in felid hosts and parasites causing fatal disease in marine wildlife.

The study builds on years of work by a consortium of researchers led by the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine's Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). The scientists were called upon in the late 1990s to help decipher the mystery when Toxoplasma caused deaths in sea otters along the California coast.

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Bobcat in Anthem attack tests positive for rabies​​

GAME AND FISH NEWS       July 17, 2017 Arizona Game and Fish Department   ​​​​​​​Bobcat in Anthem attack tests positive for rabies​​ Tips offered to prevent rare human-wildlife conflicts     PHOENIX — A bobcat that attacked a large dog and bit a man on the hand in the Anthem Country Club area on Sunday evening has tested positive for rabies. At 7:30 p.m. Sunday, the Arizona Game and Fish Department received a call that a man was bitten on the hand by a bobcat. The man reported to officers that the bobcat attacked a German shepherd and he was bitten while trying to separate the two animals. The bobcat quickly fled the immediate area, but was located and dispatched. The animal underwent a necropsy by the department’s wildlife health veterinarian and tissue samples were sent to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Results showed it tested positive for rabies. While bobcats are abundant throughout Arizona – including in urban areas – they can be aggressive if they become sick, trapped or are defending offspring or a territory. They also tend to frequent habitats where food and water are plentiful, such as in neighborhoods. Because bobcats are rarely a threat to people and commonly coexist without incident, AZGFD does not routinely relocate bobcats. To discourage bobcats from living near a residence, homeowners should: Keep domestic animals such as small dogs, cats, chickens and rabbits, in a secure enclosure with a sturdy roof if outdoors and unattended. Keep small dogs and cats indoors, in a secure enclosure or on a leash when outdoors. Feed dogs and cats inside or remove any uneaten pet food left outside between feedings. Keep the landscaping around your home neatly trimmed to cover to hide. Likewise relocate or remove piles of debris or junk. Repair openings in fences that could allow a bobcat to easily enter the yard. Fencing your yard is helpful, however, bobcats can jump up to 12 feet, so a 6-foot-tall fence may not deter them if they are attracted to something in the yard. Residents can discourage a bobcat from living near their home by: Making loud noises such as yelling, using whistles, horns, blaring music or bang on pots and pans. Spraying it with a garden hose. Throwing objects (e.g., rocks, sticks, toys, cans, shoes, etc.) at it. For information about living in the vicinity of bobcats and how to discourage them from living near your home, visit the Department’s website at www.azgfd.gov.     Did you know? The Arizona Game and Fish Department receives NO Arizona general fund tax dollars? We hold the state’s wildlife in trust for the public without a dime from Arizona taxpayers.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, religion, or disability in its programs and activities. If anyone believes that they have been discriminated against in any of the AZGFD’s programs or activities, including its employment practices, the individual may file a complaint alleging discrimination directly with the Director’s Office, 5000 W. Carefree Highway, Phoenix, AZ 85086-5000, (602) 942-3000, or with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Attn: Civil Rights Coordinator for Public Access, 5275 Leesburg Pike, MS:WSFR, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803. Persons with a disability may request a reasonable accommodation or this document in an alternative format by contacting the Director’s Office as listed above.       Arizona Game & Fish Dept. · 5000 W. Carefree Hwy, Phoenix, AZ 85086 (602) 942-3000 · www.azgfd.gov

Ancient Native Americans May Have Had Pet Bobcat

by Tia Ghose, Senior Writer | July 08, 2015 10:37am ET

A 2,000-year-old burial mound discovered in the area that's now Illinois contained the remains of a young bobcat, new research reveals.

The ancient bobcat was wearing a special collar and was found in a ritual burial mound normally reserved for humans.

"It really looked like it had been buried not because it was a feral accessory for a human, but because it was, in some way, kind of respected on its own," said study co-author Angela Perri, a zooarchaeologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. 

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Mysterious Big Cat of Jekyll Island Back After 100 Years

December 30, 2014

Paul Seaburn

In this business, it’s always nice when legends are finally proven to be realities. That was the case recently in Georgia when a motion sensor camera confirmed the existence of the long-rumored bobcat on Jekyll Island.

Up until now, the only evidence of bobcats ever living on Jekyll Island, one of Georgia’s coastal barrier islands known as both a Sea Island and a Golden Isle, was a photograph dating back to the early 1900s of bobcat pelts hanging on the wall of a gamekeeper’s cabin. First inhabited by a Native American chiefdom known as the Guale and later by Muskogian tribes, it was claimed by Spain in 1510 (Juan Ponce de Leon was an early governor) and named Jekyll Island (for Sir Joseph Jekyll) after the British made Georgia a colony in 1733. The state of Georgia bought the island in 1947 and made it a state park. For you X-Man fans, in “X-Men First Class” Jekyll Island served as the backdrop for Muir island.

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Sea creatures not the only animals to be found along area beaches

By Jannette Pippin, Halfiax Media Services

Published: Saturday, June 21, 2014 at 18:58 PM.

What appeared to be a big dog swimming in Browns Inlet proved to be a big cat.

Cedar Point resident Mike Maroules is no stranger to the area’s waterways, but he was surprised while out on his boat last week to find a bobcat paddling toward a swath of beach in Browns Inlet.

“I thought it was a big dog. I was going to go rescue it in case it was tired from swimming, but when I got close enough I could see it wasn’t a dog,” said Maroules, who snapped photographs of the bobcat during his June 13 outing.

“He was a big cat. He looked full grown,” Maroules added.

Not only was it unusual to see the nocturnal bobcat during the day, Maroules said he’s never seen one in the inlet before.

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Testing inconclusive, suspected bobcat returned

May 17, 2014 8:16 AM

STAFFORD, N.J. (AP) — Rocky's mother was 98 percent bobcat.

But because a DNA test couldn't determine the 38-pound feline's father's lineage, a judge ruled Friday that the runaway cat be returned to a New Jersey woman.

Municipal Court Judge Damian Murray ruled that Ginny Fine can regain custody of Rocky after a mitochondrial DNA test found that the cat's mother was 98 percent bobcat, but couldn't determine its father's lineage, the Asbury Park Press reported (http://on.app.com/1oA0Am1 ).

Mitochondrial DNA is inherited solely from the mother.

"The bottom line is, Rocky goes home," Murray said.

Fine, who has maintained that Rocky is a hybrid bobcat and Maine coon, said she was shocked by the ruling.

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Now-healthy Bobcat Returns to the Wild

#WildCare's Wildlife Hospital treats nearly 4,000 ill, injured and orphaned wild animal patients from over 200 species every year. This is one patient's story.

The odds against this young female Bobcat's survival were significant.

Desperate, emaciated and absolutely crawling with parasites, this normally-shy feline turned to a fisherman's cleaning station dumpster to survive. She lived for several weeks on fish scraps before marina residents called authorities to arrange her rescue.

When she arrived at WildCare in December 2013, her prognosis was extremely guarded. A bad case of ear mites, truly the worst WildCare Medical Staff had ever seen, had caused the cat to deform her own ears with scratching. She had also scratched the cornea of her eye.

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Bobcat swaps sharp teeth and claws of mountain lion for 5cm cactus spikes

When you're running for your life you don't have time to think about protecting your undercarriage. Take this bobcat, which clambered up a 15m (50ft) giant saguaro cactus and stayed there for six hours to escape a mountain lion.
His smart manoeuvre left the larger predator circling the base of the 300-year-old plant, where he stared up and growled before giving up and walking off.

The bobcat refused to crawl back down for several hours, instead sitting on the cactus’s 5cm (2in) spikes. Amazingly, it appeared to have suffered hardly a scratch.

The scenes were taken in the Sonoran Desert, Arizona, by photographer Curt Fonger, 69, who said: ‘The mountain lion probably had cubs, the bobcat had intruded on its territory and she gave chase to warn the bobcat not to come close to her young family.

‘I was astonished that the bobcat was on such a high prickly perch. In fact, the beautiful creature seemed quite content and was lying on top of the cactus.’

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/873406-bobcat-swaps-sharp-teeth-and-claws-of-mountain-lion-for-5cm-cactus-spikes#ixzz1WK8b5til

Big cat sightings on rise in Cape Breton

CBC News
Posted: Mar 15, 2011 3:59 PM AT

The Natural Resources Department is reporting an unusually high number of large cat sightings in central and western Cape Breton.

The department believes most are lynx, though some may be bobcats.

Two weeks ago, Kate Oland was driving near her home in Middle River when she saw a lynx on the snowbank beside the road.

"It was definitely glossy and shiny and healthy looking. Very beautiful, very majestic. I had to slow the car right down and I was able to follow it for quite a ways down the road," Oland said.

"It was such a sunny day and it was against the white snow, with the sunlight filtering through its whiskers and everything, when it turned to look at me. It was just a beautiful, beautiful glimpse. I wished I had a camera."

Oland said the lynx looked at her and then calmly trotted away.

Bruce Murphy, a wildlife technologist with Natural Resources in Whycocomagh, said that in the past month sightings have been reported from Port Hawkesbury to Margaree.

Murphy believes the large cats are looking for food.

He said they likely have left their normal territory because of heavy snow in the Cape Breton Highlands, and the declining population of snowshoe hares, which are a mainstay in their diet.

It's also breeding season, Murphy said, so many of the cats may be searching for a mate

"You don't approach the animal in any way — give them their space and hopefully the animal will return to the wild," he said.

"But, you know, if the animal appears to be injured in any way, emaciated, contact the local DNR office and someone will be there to assist."

Because bobcats are extremely shy of humans, Murphy believes most of the sightings have been of lynx. He said lynx have longer legs, larger paws and ear tufts.

Murphy says the cats are not dangerous but if people don't want them around, they should hide away possible food sources.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2011/03/15/ns-lynx-sightings-cape-breton.html

Mystery cat photographed: Panther or bobcat? Or something else?

RIGHT: This interesting cat was photographed in Screven County recently by a hunter's trail camera. Can you identify the species?

 Rob Pavey | Tue, Sep. 28 1:27 PM

Georgia wildlife officials say we don't have panthers - and people who claim to have seen one continue to insist otherwise.

It's a perennial stalemate that has lingered for decades, with dozens of sightings reported annually across Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.

Without evidence, however, the reports are routinely dismissed as mistaken identity linked to hound dogs, bobcats, large feral cats or small deer.

The lone exception was a 140-pound panther killed during a black powder hunt in 2008 near West Point Lake in Troup County. Genetic tests confirmed it was not - as biologists first said - an escaped pet.

It was a Florida panther and a member of the last subspecies of cougar still surviving in the eastern U.S., with fewer than 120 animals.

Almost two years later, authorities still have no explanation of how the cat ended up in Georgia - 600 miles from its known habitat.

Such mysteries bring up the obvious question of whether there could be other panthers - or something other than panthers that could explain the persistent sightings.

The most recent ones I'm aware of occurred just this past month.

One was a woman's call to Columbia County authorities claiming to have seen a panther at the New Hope Baptist Church Cemetery in the Campania community.

The other was this actual photo - taken by a hunter's trail camera - in Screven County.

The image, snapped about an hour before daylight, shows a dark cat meandering through swamp grass. Its tail is not visible, but it has an unmistakable flat, feline face.

Could it be a panther? Perhaps not. It doesn't appear large enough to be a mature cat from a species that routinely grows to be more than seven feet long.

Other opinions are that it could be a bobcat in low light, or perhaps a mature feral cat that has somehow interbred with bobcats.

The seemingly pointed ears on the cat in the photo might lend credence to that argument, since panthers have more rounded ears. But the angle of the photo could also have made rounded ears seem more pointed.

One common denominator among many reported "panther" sightings is a description of a cat much smaller than a typical panther, leading some theorists to surmise the creatures could be jaguarundi, a panther-like wildcat native to Mexico and Central America that has been found in Texas and Florida.

The jaguarundi is known to inhabit swamps and remote river basins and is so elusive that relatively little is known about the species. It is also commonly found with dark brown or black fur, which could help explain the large percentage of sightings in which the cat was a "black" panther.

Wildlife biologists continue to say it is unlikely that panthers, jaguarundis or other such predators are living in our midst undetected. And people who have seen them will continue to disagree.

http://chronicle.augusta.com/content/blog-post/rob-pavey/2010-09-28/mystery-cat-photographed-panther-or-bobcat-or-something-else
(Submitted by Chad Arment)

Snap of a shutter confirms bobcat sighting in Boston Heights

Courtesy of Julie Morgan. The motion-activated camera in the backyard of Julie Morgan's home in Boston Heights snapped this photograph of a bobcat at 1:40 a.m. Sunday.

Published: Saturday, September 25, 2010, 9:00 AM
Michael Sangiacomo, The Plain Dealer

With Tonya Sams / Plain Dealer Reporter

BOSTON HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Julie Morgan could not believe the image on her backyard motion-activated camera.

Her camera snapped a photograph of a bobcat.

"That was a one in a million shot," the 38-year-old mother said in a phone interview Friday night. "My camera has taken pictures of normal animals like deer and coyotes, but that was the first time I had seen evidence of a bobcat in the area."

The camera shot the photograph at 1:40 a.m. Sunday.

Morgan keeps the camera in the woods, which is part of the two acres she owns near the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Morgan sent the photo to her friend Frank Satullo, who runs Ohio Traveler, an online travel magazine at ohiotraveler.com, who posted the picture Thursday. The photo is creating a buzz in the naturalist world.

"Neighbors had spotted the bobcat before, but no one has ever gotten a photo of it until now," Satullo said.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park Resource Manager Lisa Petit was excited about the prospect of a confirmed bobcat sighting. She said they have been hearing reports of sightings for the past three years from people who live near the park, including Boston Heights, but had seen no proof.

"This would be the first verification that I am aware of in the park area," she said. "I believe that it's likely that it's a bobcat who is coming from somewhere else -- southern Ohio, West Virginia or Pennsylvania."

She said bobcats pose no threat to people or pets.

"They are very secretive, even more secretive than coyotes," she said. "They prey on small animals like rabbits and are very important to the ecosystem."

Morgan said for that reason, she's not afraid that she will be in any danger of the bobcat.

Boston Heights police said they knew nothing about it.

"Bobcat sighting? We have not heard that," Patrolman Joe Darga said Thursday. "Being close to the park, we see turkeys, coyotes and other animals all the time. This is the first time for a bobcat."

Dan Kramer, wildlife manager with the Ohio Division of Wildlife, has seen the picture and said the division staff has no reason to doubt its authenticity.

"The number of verified sightings of bobcats have been increasing in southeast Ohio," he said. "There were 92 verified sightings in 2009, up from 65 in 2008. They are coming farther north, as close as Stark County. There was one killed on I-90 in Lake County about 10 years ago, and there have been sightings in Ashtabula."

He said that as the population increases, the young males will travel farther to make their own way. He said it is also possible that it escaped, or was released, from an exotic-animal collector.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/09/snap_of_a_shutter_confirms_bob.html

Big cat visits Weston backyard

Wausau Daily Herald • June 16, 2010

WESTON — A Weston woman isn’t entirely sure what she saw last night in her backyard, but she knows it wasn’t any ordinary cat.

Marena Groll, 52, told the Wausau Daily Herald today that she heard what sounded like a cat fight at about 10 p.m. at her home on Lang Lane. When she went outside to investigate, a house cat ran toward a neighbor’s house and a large cat-like animal come out of a wooded area, Groll said. The animal then ran back into the woods after briefly stepping into a lighted area, she said.

Groll described the animal as being about 5-feet long, tan in color with a white underbelly and a long tail. Gross said she did not see the animal’s head clearly in the poor lighting.

Groll said she initially thought the animal was a cougar. After talking with a Department of Natural Resources biologist, Groll said she was more convinced that the animal was a bobcat.

Groll said she was concerned for the safety of the children in the neighborhood and pets.

“It’s an animal behaving very aggressively and we need to be aware of it,” Groll said.

Adrian Wydeven, a cougar expert for the DNR, said the animal sounded like it was a bobcat based on Groll’s description.

“It’s possible, I can’t dismiss it,” Wydeven said when asked if the animal could have been a cougar.

http://www.stevenspointjournal.com/article/20100616/WDH0101/100616068/Big-cat-visits-Weston-backyard

Blonde raccoon is star of show at new wildlife centre

RIGHT: Terri Petter holds her blonde raccoon Fingers at the site of where her wildlife education center will be built. Renee Jones Schneider, Star Tribune.

CALL OF THE WILDLIFE

A landmark furniture store in Farmington is being transformed into a wildlife education center, along with a gift shop and restaurant.

By DEAN SPIROS, Star Tribune
February 21, 2010 - 7:29 PM

The array of country furniture and accessories displayed in a sprawling timber building has always been but part of the lure of Oak & Treasures in Farmington.

For some, a weekend just wasn't complete without stopping in to talk to Fingers the blonde raccoon, who regularly occupied a pen in the back of the store. Or to get an up-close look at the wolf that often kept Terri Petter company in her office while she worked at the store belonging to her mother, Eunice.

After 15 years, the animals are moving from the back rooms and into the spotlight. Oak & Treasures is closing its doors and will reopen as a wildlife education center in the fall.

"The Habitat" will display a variety of native animals in their natural surroundings inside large, fenced-in pens. The inside of the log building will feature a bar and grill and gift shop. The walls will be adorned with animal mounts accompanied by educational text.

It's the brainchild of Apple Valley native Terri Petter, who grew up with a love of the outdoors and the creatures that inhabit them.

"Working with critters has always been her dream,'' Eunice Petter said. "We've been working toward this point for five years. It's just a good time to do it.''

"I always wanted to educate people on the outdoors and to get kids off the couch and away from the video games,'' Terri Petter said. "Getting people back outside to enjoy wildlife.''

Terri Petter has more than 100 animals, including cougars, wolves, bobcats, lynx, badgers, foxes, prairie dogs and ground hogs. They are housed on her 100-acre ranch in Apple Valley. Petter has a U.S. Department of Agriculture permit, and she said all of the animals have been purchased from a USDA-licensed facility.

"I don't have any kids; those are my kids,'' Terri Petter said. "I protect them like they are my kids.''

A landscape makeover will include the addition of trees, boulders, plants and ponds. "You're going to be able to walk out there and feel like you are up north,'' Terri Petter said.

Admission prices stand at $7.50 for adults and $5.50 for children. Yearly memberships will be available. Petter also is seeking corporate sponsorships and accepts donations.

The Petters have purchased an adjacent 70 acres of farmland they plan to use for future expansion of the habitat. Plans call for a petting farm featuring horses, cows, chickens and the like.

The current going-out-of-business furniture sale runs through May 1. Construction will begin soon after, weather permitting.

Eunice Petter has been in the furniture business for over 30 years, dating back to her days as an antiques dealer at Lake and Hennepin in Minneapolis. She also taught history for 30 years in the Apple Valley school district. While sad to see the furniture store close ("I'll miss the customers"), she's excited about her daughter's new venture.

"It's a big gamble,'' said Terri Petter, who put her ranch and her mom's timber building up for loan collateral. "I might be living in a box in two years. But I think it's worth it.''

http://www.startribune.com/local/south/84920632.html
(Submitted by D.R. Shoop)

Rabid Bobcat Attacks 3 People In Arizona Town, Terrorizes Local Watering Hole

David Goodhue - AHN Reporter

Cottonwood, AZ (AHN) -- A rabid bobcat terrorized the small town of Cottonwood, Ariz. Thursday night before being shot in a bar parking lot by police - but not before the cat attacked two people and sent the rest fleeing and jumping on pool tables, the Arizona Republic reported.

Three people in total were attacked by the animal and will now have to receive a series of rabies-vaccine shots.

The first victim was a woman who hit the bobcat with her car. When she got out to look what she hit, a man standing on the side of the road told her not to get too close to the bobcat. But it was too late. The animal leapt on her, scratched her and ran off.

The animal then went to a Pizza Hut parking lot, where it scared a worker, but did not attack anyone. The beast then appeared at Chapparral, a local bar.

Bartender Scott Hughes told the Republic that three of his patrons said goodnight and walked outside at about 11:40 p.m. But as soon as they walked out of the entrance, they ran back in, trailed by the bobcat. One of the customers jumped on a pool table and the others jumped onto the bar, he told the newspaper.

A crowd of about 20 people ran toward the exit, but so did the bobcat. It wrapped itself around the leg of one man, who punched it in the face, knocking it out for a few seconds. The animal then walked outside and toward a police officer, who shot and killed it.

Rabid bobcat walks into bar, attacks patrons

Last Update: 3/26 12:35 pm

COTTONWOOD, Ariz. (AP) -- A bobcat has attacked three people in the central Arizona community of Cottonwood, including two men who were bitten by the animal after it wandered inside a bar.

Officers called to the Chapparal Bar arrived to find the bobcat in the parking lot, where they shot and killed it.

Tests were ordered to determine if the animal was rabid. It wasn't clear how seriously the victims had been wounded.

Cottonwood police say the animal attacked Monday when it scratched a woman who thought she had hit it with her car. Then police got a report of a bobcat acting aggressively toward a woman outside a Pizza Hut.

About 11 p.m. came the call from the bar that a bobcat was inside as patrons climbed atop bar stools to get away.

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Information from: KVRD-FM, http://www.myradioplace.com/

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