Where does Fat Kid live?

By far, this is the funniest thing I have read today. This picture accompanied the article:






Drought driving bobcats into city

By John Rudolf
Sunday, March 30, 2008 4:13 PM MST

The Southwestern bobcat is a sleek predator who stalks the desert alone, constantly in search of prey. Subsisting mostly on rabbits and hares, with its sharp claws and strong jaws it can hunt and kill animals as large as small deer and even prong-horned antelope.

The cats — generally about twice the size of an ordinary housecat — gravitate toward riparian areas like the lands along the Colorado River, and with more and more people also calling this area their home, human-bobcat interactions are bound to be on the rise.

And according to one local self-styled bobcat expert, drought conditions over the past year have resulted in even more bobcat sightings in the city.

“Typically I get calls when there are sightings,” said Denise Strong, a realtor who owns a rare hybrid bobcat. “It’s been endless over the last couple of months.”

While she could not be sure, Strong suggested that drought conditions that have persisted over the past several years could be the cause. “Drought usually brings them into urban neighborhoods in search of water.”

Strong is concerned that a lack of understanding about the cats could result in injury or even death for the creatures. “People think ‘wild animal’ and then they get scared,” she said. “The public shouldn’t fear them.”

Bobcats will enter a backyard in search of food, water or shade, and pose a risk to small dogs. But Strong said she had never heard of a bobcat attacking a pet locally.

“I’m not hearing of anybody saying bobcats are killing their pets, like I have with the coyotes,” she said.

However, she did hear of one case where a local man killed a bobcat that was on his property. The bobcat had been prowling around the man’s property when it was killed. Strong said such action was totally unnecessary. “What people don’t understand, they often fear,” she said.

Bobcats are not a threatened species, with a wide distribution throughout the continent, from southern Canada to northern Mexico, and from coast to coast. They are closely related to lynx, which have larger paws for walking on snow.

Laws on hybrid bobcats vary from state-to-state, and ownership is legal in Arizona. Full-blood, wild bobcats are illegal to own almost everywhere.

Strong’s hybrid bobcat, named Bovey, is 10 years old and was acquired from a breeder in Minnesota. It is stronger than the average housecat, with large paws, and sharp claws, and can weigh up to 40 pounds in winter.

Even the hybrids retain a strong sense of the wild, however, and ownership can be a taxing responsibility. As kittens, they must be bottlefed.

“For 10 months we had to bottle-feed this cat,” Strong said. “It was like having a baby.”

Bovey is also a picky eater, refusing to eat anything but sirloin tip roast and chicken thighs. “He’s a little brat,” she said. “It’s like having a 2-year-old who always wants his own way.”

The cats must also be socialized with humans and other pets to avoid conflict. “They’re not friendly cats, unless you take time to socialize them with people,” Strong said. “They are typically a solitary animal.”