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The southern cousin of the Lynx, bobcats are the most common wildcat found in North America. Typically, young bobcats remain with their mother for the entirety of their first year but are seen in some cases to begin hunting on their own at only six months old. Bobcats are also quite shy, but that has not been the case with Monty, the young bobcat named after the area where he was found.
Bobcats imprint on their caregivers quickly—whether it is their mother or a completely different species. During the short time Monty was with humans that fed him Friskies and cow's milk, the imprinting process meant that he was unlikely to survive in the wild.
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via Wildlife Center of VirginiaMonty eventually made his way to the Maymont Wildlife Habitat in Richmond, Virginia, which cares for animals deemed non-releasable. Senior Manager of Zoology Joe Neel explained that Monty serves as one of Maymont's animal ambassadors in their mission to educate people about Virginia native species.
Over the years, Monty has had trouble swallowing things and having them lodged inside his gastrointestinal (GI). It's a possible reason why Monty's mother may have abandoned him. It also meant the mulch on the floor of his outdoor enclosure had to be removed.
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03 via Wildlife Center of Virginia
"We get a lot of concern that there's no substrate in his enclosure, and that's because he has a very sharp bend in his GI system," Neel said. "He has this habit of swallowing things that he's not supposed to. After the second surgery, our vet said, 'no more substrate, nothing at all.'"
As bobcats are adept climbers, Monty commonly scales the sides of his enclosure like a house cat would on the side of a couch. Monty also tries to snatch any unlucky bird or squirrel that foolishly enters his enclosure. "He's still a cat, so anything that comes in becomes a prey item," Neel said.
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04 via Maymont Foundation
Even though Monty is a bobcat, he displays more behavior of fellow indoor felines than one would think.
"He behaves very similarly to a housecat," Neel illustrated. "He's an amazing animal to work with. He knows what time it is to go in and knows when it's time to come out."
Monty has imprinted on humans so much, Neel described, "he'll actually lie on his back and purr when you're working around him."
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05 via Maymont Foundation
Yet, Monty's wild instincts remain embedded inside him. "For instance," Neel explained, "His litter box is a pan of water. Bobcats in the wild 'go to the bathroom' in running water because if you're trying to hunt something, you don't want to leave notices around that you're around—it's a great adaptation, it's a great strategy they've developed."
Monty doesn't just spend his days with his belly in the air coaxing pets and rubs from his caretakers and trying to catch birds with the gall to enter his domain. He has plenty of enrichment items to stimulate his senses. One of his favorite things is pawing at eggplants floating in a water trough.
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06 via Maymont Foundation
"He will spend days bobbing at it," Neel said. "They're soft, and they float. As well, he's a carnivore, so he won't eat it."
In the wild, bobcats live ten to 14 years. Since Monty is non-releasable and has been in captivity nearly since birth, Neel explained that although Monty is pushing 15 years old, he can easily live for 25 years or even longer. He considers Monty "just a little over mid-life" in age.
When asked about the most challenging part of caring for the wildcat, Neel said, "he is such a good cat, and the biggest challenge is you want to pet him, and you can't." As a known rabies vector, non-trainer contact with Monty is prohibited.
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07 via Maymont Foundation
"You just want to rub that belly, but of course, you can't. It's pretty tough," he expressed.
Monty loves his dedicated caretakers at Maymont and is treated like family by people like Neel and his team. Although Monty has a lot of life left in him, he's already left a deep impression on humans.
"The biggest dread is when they get to be a certain age we wonder how much longer we have him for," Neel said. "My hope—he's immortal."
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