13 December, 2012

If you are going to save a cat make sure you . . .

13 December 2012
610

R. Linda:

Well, what can I say to this bit I have to write? Maybe I can say if you can't see something in the dark, then don't pick it up? OR, if you don't know what a cat looks like then consider yourself hindered in your judgement of what one might look like and leave well enough alone? OR, quite simply -- OOPS!

It started out as a good Samaritan-like gesture, yes it did, but it ended up as one of those "Oh shite" moments, which can happen to any one of us. Yesss. It all started with one woman driving along a Bangor, Maine road around Midnight on Wednesday, when whammo she hits a cat. I don't know if you have ever run over an animal but it is a heart-crunching moment and a feeling of cold dread comes over you. If you happen to be like me, you slow down, look in the rearview mirror to see if it's still alive and if it is you pull over and go see what you can do . . . or not.

Well, that self-same thing happened to this Maine woman. She could see what she hit laying in the road and so she pulled over, backed up and went to help. Yes, she did. But she didn't know if it was dead or seriously injured, so she thought to get it out of the road so no other driver would hit it, and if it was alive when she got to town she'd probably take it to a vet. So she lifted kitty (yes it was a cat) and put it in her van. Yes, she did.

As she was driving along, the cat started to rally and become alert and so did our Maine driver. She realised sitting next to her was not a domestic cat but a BOBCAT! Well, that was enough to make her pull over and jump out and as she did the "cat" got out too and as our Maine driver shuffled ready to run, the "cat" got under the van and wasn't coming out. WHAT TO DO?

She did what any sensible person would do she rang the local Gendarmes. They came to her aid and looked under the van, and yup, yup, for sure and ay-yah, it was a bobcat under the van. Using a catch pole they were able to snare the "cat" until the animal warden arrived. Unfortunately, the injuries to the bobcat were such that they had to euthanize it.

So let this be a lesson to all of us geniuses who drive the dark street-lightless northern New England roads after midnight on Wednesdays, if you hit something out in the middle of nowhere, you can pretty much ascertain it is NOT a house cat, nor a dog, nor any family pet. It is probably wild, will harm you if it is able through its rage of being in pain, and the best thing you can do, is call the local police and let them know before some other fool comes along and decides to "help" the kitty in the road.

I already know what Capt Jaack will say, he'll want to know if a sobriety test was done on this woman, and Weasil will want to know if this was her first day "out of doors", but let's not condemn her too much, how many of us might have done the same thing besides maybe Weasil's wife Amanda? Well, not me, but one must commend the woman for her sympathetic nature but at the expense of her life? I dunno.

Here's kitty!
 
Courtesy Bangor Maine Police Dept.

Remember I don't make this stuff up, I just report it, so don't chew out the messenger over this one. SIGH.

Gabe
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2 comments:

mobit22 said...

poor thing. must've been one hell of a thump when she hit it!

Maggie said...

Look at the size of the legs, that right away would indicate that was no ordinary house cat.