Big bobcat rescued in Okatie later dies from his injuries. ‘An absolutely beautiful animal’
A cop, a vet and an animal rescue pro saved a big bobcat after it was struck by a vehicle along a busy four-lane highway in Okatie.
But a day-and-a-half later, the wild cat succumbed at a wildlife rehabilitation center in Liberty, S.C. It’s death spoiled the ending but highlighted the Lowcountry’s love for wildlife that manages to persist despite pressing development.
“An absolutely beautiful animal,” said Dr. Ben Parker, a veterinarian with Coastal Vet Clinic in Bluffton.
Parker took X-rays and examined the bobcat after it was brought to him by Laura Sterling of Laura’s Little Critter Barn.
While Bluffton Police officer Alex Lamm assisted with traffic control, Sterling lassoed the bobcat with a catch-pull pole in the median of Highway 170 near St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.
“He was just able to stand up,” Sterling said of the injured animal.
Authorities were notified during the Tuesday morning commute that a bobcat had been struck by a vehicle and notified Sterling.
When Parker lifted the towel on the carrier cage at his Bluffton vet clinic, the bobcat roared and hissed.
“To see one up close,” Parker told the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette Thursday, “is pretty intimidating.”
Parker sedated the bobcat through the cage and conducted an examination and took X-rays that showed the male had a fractured femur.
It weighed 30 pounds. Southern bobcats typically weigh between 12 to 25 pounds, according to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR).
Parker and Sterling were hopeful the animal could be saved and perhaps live out its days at a wildlife sanctuary. Sterling bundled up the bobcat and drove it to the wildlife rescue and rehabilitation facility in Liberty, where it died Wednesday evening before surgery could be performed.
The death was attributed to stress and the trauma of being struck by the vehicle.
“I really wanted to save him,” said Parker, adding, “at least he didn’t die on the side of the road starving and freezing.”
The rescue attempt, Sterling said, showed how much Lowcountry residents care about wildlife.
“There are cases of nature when bad things happen to animals, but in many cases it’s humans that cause the damage to begin with,” Sterling said. “And therefore, we have to try to step up and try to rectify that wrong, and that’s what happened Tuesday.”
Bobcats are not rare — they are found in all of South Carolina’s 46 counties — just rarely seen, SCDNR spokesman Greg Lucas said.
“Unless,” Lucas said, “you spend a lot of time in the woods, especially at dusk and dawn.”
Known for their short “bobbed” tails, bobcats are most abundant in the thick forests areas of the coastal plain, the SCDNR says, where they use sharp eyesight to hunt rats, rabbits, mice, squirrels and sometimes fawns or injured deer.
In the wake of the collision that killed the bobcat, Parker and Sterling said they worry about the pace of development in Beaufort County, particularly clearcutting, and the impact it’s having on wildlife habitat.
“These animals have no place to go,” Parker said.
The SCDNR says Piedmont habitats with good interspersion of forest and clearcut areas are able to support stable bobcat populations, with clearcuts providing alternate prey in years when forest prey numbers are low.
Hunting of bobcats with dogs was once popular in the state although it’s uncommon today, the SCDNR says. The pelts are highly valued.
While bobcats are not endangered, hunting and trapping is carefully monitored because of the high demand for spotted cat furs worldwide, the SCDNR says.
This story was originally published December 22, 2022 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Big bobcat rescued in Okatie later dies from his injuries. ‘An absolutely beautiful animal’."
