The University Wildlife Clinic is preparing two bobcat cubs for a return to the wild, after being found in a boxcar and turned into the clinic on May 20.

The bobcats had been found in a boxcar on a freight train by a Tuscola resident on May 17, said Nicki Rosenhagen, a veterinary student who serves as the senior manager at the Wildlife Clinic. The resident had left the bobcats alone and returned Monday to see if the mother had returned. When she hadn’t, he had brought them into the clinic.

“It was definitely the right thing to do,” Rosenhagen said. “When they got here, they were really hungry and thirsty.”

Zach Kline, a veterinary student who is another student manager at the clinic, said that it turned out the freight train had originated from Louisiana. 

Because bobcats are not common in Illinois, Kline said the clinic believes the boxcar was sitting in Louisiana when the bobcat built a nest. When the cubs’ mother was out hunting, they think the boxcar must have started on its way to Illinois before she returned.

When the cubs first came in, they were extremely dehydrated. After giving them some fluids, Kline said that they were given a milk formula used for small carnivores. They were so hungry originally, Kline said, that when they first started feeding them, they ripped the nipples out of the bottles.

After a couple of days on the formula, they were old enough to eat on their own and were immediately moved to dead mice, chicks and occasionally fish.

“It’s good to vary up their diet for nutritional purposes,” Rosenhagen said.

Kline said that considering the situation, the bobcats are doing very well in captivity and are gaining weight. He said that the cubs were not as shy as what would be preferred upon their arrival. But when they were taken off the formula and eating on their own, they became much more shy and wary of human contact, which is the goal, Kline said.

“It’s important to minimize human contact,” Kline said. “Ideally, we want them in the wild as soon as possible.”

According to Julia Whittington, director of the Wildlife Clinic, the only other bobcat that she can remember coming in was in the ’90s when an adult bobcat came in with a traumatic amputation.

“They’re a very rare and exciting occurrence,” Kline said.  

The Wildlife Clinic typically gets more common Illinois animals like birds, coyotes, deer, squirrels and raccoons, Kline said.

The cubs will be moved to a new rehabilitation center, TreeHouse Wildlife Center, on Wednesday. Kline said that they will be completely secluded in a pen with more foliage so that they will be in a more outdoor setting and “practice being bobcats.” After a couple of weeks, Kline said that they will likely be released farther south in Missouri where bobcats are more native.

Since their arrival, the bobcats have been quite popular, with both Kline and Rosenhagen citing people calling, emailing and even showing up at the clinic asking to see and pet the bobcat cubs. They said that the clinic has been constantly having to kindly decline people’s visits.

“This can screw up their behavior for the future,” Kline said.

He said that if people ever find abandoned baby wildlife, they should always bring them to the nearest wildlife rehabilitation clinic.

“It’s good to emphasize how important it is to keep wildlife wild,” Kline said. “It’s never a good idea to try and keep wildlife, though how tempting it may be.”

Kat can be reached at [email protected].