Osoyoos family gets special moment when bobcat kitten pays a visit

A family in Osoyoos got a rare wildlife sighting when a bobcat kitten showed up in their backyard at the end of June.

Julie McCaskill and her family live on the outskirts of town, surrounded by vineyards where there’s a lot of wildlife to observe.

“Deer are always wandering through and we even had a moose show up once, but we’ve never seen a wild cat before,” she said. “I never thought we’d actually see one, especially not a kitten.”

It was on June 30 when the family dog, Daisy, alerted them there was something in a tree.

“She was barking and my husband, who was mowing the lawn, went over to see what all the fuss was about,” McCaskill said. “The next thing I hear is him yelling for me, so the kids and I ran outside.”

The family quickly got their dog and cat inside and snapped a few pictures of the kitten as it climbed down the tree and inspected the backyard. McCaskill guessed it weighed roughly five pounds.

“The kitten was just checking the place out and didn’t seem scared at all, just curious,” McCaskill said. “I was worried the mother wasn’t around so I looked on the internet and found out it’s common for bobcats to leave their kittens while they hunt. A person on our community Facebook page said they’d spotted the mom nearby.”

McCaskill said the kitten was so cute it took some restraint to collect the family and bring them indoors so as not to interfere with it or the possibility its mother would be coming back to get it.

“It was a learning moment for the kids who have an interest in wildlife, they instantly wanted to snuggle it,” she said. “My seven-year-old named it ‘Squishy’ and spent the rest of the day trying to convince us we should keep her. I’ll admit, it was tempting, but dad said ‘no’.”

Native to North America, the bobcat is a medium-sized wild cat named for its short, bobbed tail that can be found in a range of habitats, including semi-deserts, forests, mountains, and brushland, according to Animalia. The ferocious hunters have large territories and typically don’t interact with each other until breeding season in February and March.

Bobcat kittens are born in May and June with average litters of three kittens. The kittens nurse for two more months while the mother cares for them and teaches them to hunt. The kittens will disperse during the winter at roughly eight months old.

The Institute for Environmental Research and Education advises if a member of the public finds a bobcat kitten, the best thing to do is leave it alone and watch for at least 24 hours to see if its mother returns. Do not assume the kitten is abandoned as the mother is likely out hunting and will return. Local wildlife experts should be contacted with any concerns.

McCaskill has not spotted the kitten since, nor caught sight of its mother.

“We moved here from the coast almost ten years ago, and its moments like this are part of what makes living here so special,” she said. “It was such a cool experience.”