oddly enough

oddly enough

Brasstown having possum drop, without live possum

BRASSTOWN, N.C.

A New Year’s Eve possum drop that attracts thousands of people to a tiny western North Carolina town will go on this year, with one big change: It won’t involve a live possum.

The Asheville Citizen-Times reported Thursday that Brasstown will have the event Monday but with a different guest of honor.

During past drops, the possum was suspended in a see-through box covered with tinsel and lowered to the ground at midnight.

Last month, a judge ruled a state agency lacked authority to issue a permit for the drop. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals had sued, calling the event illegal and cruel.

Clay Logan has been doing the drop for years. He says he’s considering using a stuffed animal or maybe road kill this year.

Volunteers toughen up bobcat kitten who’s too nice

PLACERVILLE, Calif.

A Northern California animal-rescue group is trying to help an orphaned bobcat kitten with a problem: She’s too nice.

The friendly baby bobcat was only a few weeks old and had burned paws and infected eyes when fire crews found her in August while battling a 75,000-acre fire in the Plumas National Forest. They named her Chips, after the wildfire.

Volunteers at the Sierra Wildlife Rescue in Placerville now are trying to toughen the kitten up, with plans to release her back into the wild next spring, The Sacramento Bee reports.

As part of her training regimen, Chips has had to start chasing down her own mice and rabbits for meals and stop sleeping on a soft bed such as the one she’d grown accustomed to while she was receiving medical treatment.

She’s also been introduced to two male bobcats, Tuffy and Sierra, that hiss and bare their claws at humans.

“If you have a friendly bobcat in the wild, that’s not going to work,” said volunteer Jill Tripoli, who squirts the kitten with a water bottle if she tries cuddling up to humans.

The firefighters who found Chips wandering in circles Aug. 25 noticed right away that she was affectionate. She followed them as they went about their work and nuzzled the boots of a crew member every time they stopped.

They tried to locate a female bobcat searching for its baby but had no luck and ended up taking the kitten to a Lake Tahoe animal shelter. She transferred to Placerville last month.

Forest Service spokesman, John Heil, said the bobcat was lucky to have survived given how intense the flames were in the area she was found.

“How it survived with the fire passing through is miraculous,” he said.

Associated Press