Kettle Valley Bobcat Makes The News

Perched on the southern slopes of Kelowna, Kettle Valley is a community that is truly nestled amongst nature and it isn’t unusual to spot wildlife in the hills and on the trails of the surrounding Johns Family Nature Conservancy Regional Park. However, spotting wildlife within the community itself is a far more rare occurrence, so it’s no surprise that our residents and the rest of Kelowna have been particularly intrigued by a bobcat in recent days.

On Friday, January 9th, some of our residents witnessed a bobcat attempting to drag a house cat away. They chased after the bobcat, who in turn released the pet and ran away. Thankfully, the house cat was found unharmed and its owner brought the pet back inside the house, closing the garage door on his way inside.

Shortly afterward, he noticed a strange noise coming from his garage and looked through a window in his door to find this:

The bobcat had made its way into the garage and the homeowner was able to take the above photo of the wild animal.

The homeowner called Kelowna Animal Control and a Conservation Officer suggested that he open the garage door, releasing the bobcat so that it could return to the nearby wilderness.

The Kettle Valley resident then sent us the photo and we shared it to our Facebook page where it quickly went viral and gathered the attention of local media. The bobcat’s story has now been shared on InfoTel News, KelownaNow, Castanet, CBC, and CTV.

Bobcats have been sighted a few times in the days since, so we are reminding the residents of Kettle Valley to keep pets indoors and to keep an eye on children. The occasional wild animal is a part of living amongst beautiful wildlife and for the safety of your families, and for the animals, it is important that we remember that we are encroaching on their homes too.

 

More Blog Posts