07/25/2025
I told my team: If I don’t call you back in 15 minutes, call the cops…
I had just driven an hour and a half to pick up a bobcat kitten from a man who refused to send a photo of it. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. What if there was no kitten? What if this was a setup?
When I pulled into the driveway, he was already outside—towering, stone-faced, and the kind of man you’d instinctively avoid crossing. He stood beside a small cage draped in a blanket. I cautiously stepped out of the car and walked toward him. His eyes locked onto mine, guarded and skeptical.
I nervously lifted the blanket.
There it was—a tiny, terrified bobcat kitten. Skinny. Malnourished. But alive.
“Promise me you won’t kill him,” he said, voice low but firm.
That’s what this was all about. This intimidating stranger wasn’t dangerous at all. He was afraid. He was trying to protect this innocent creature and was having trouble trusting a stranger not to just euthanize him. I wasn’t in danger - I was in good company.
All my fear dissolved. I finally saw this for what it was. I extended my hand and looked him straight in the eye.
“I promise,” I said. “He’s safe now. I’ll make sure he gets everything he needs.”
Once the kitten was tucked safely in my car, I made the most important call of the day—back to my team—so this kindhearted man wouldn’t be greeted by flashing lights and concerned police officers in five minutes. 😅
The kitten is about 10 weeks old—and his blood won’t clot. So young, and already suffering from rat poison exposure.
Yesterday, dozens of passionate wildlife advocates gathered at the Massachusetts State House to fight for animals just like him—lobbying to ban second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs).
I wanted to be there too. But with our team short-staffed, I was needed here.
I was still fighting the same fight—just on a different front.
Because when wildlife rehabilitators aren’t standing at the State House begging lawmakers to stop this poison, we’re rescuing very sick animals and trying desperately to save them from it.
