This Baby Bobcat Is Way Too Friendly, So Rescuers Are Toughening Her Up

In our society, being nice is often highly encouraged. However, when it comes to the personality traits of a bobcat, being too nice can actually have a fatal effect. This orphaned bobcat is way too nice for her own good, so rescuers are working hard to toughen her up!

20. Chips

Chips is an orphaned baby bobcat who is absolutely darling to look at. With her black-tipped pointed ears and big eyes, Chips is too cute for words!

19. True Bobcat

Despite her small stature, Chips is still a true bobcat at heart. She has fantastic hearing, incredible vision, and is an excellent climber. Being little hasn’t stopped her one bit.

18. One Problem

Even though Chips has all of the qualities of a wild bobcat, there’s just one huge problem! Chips is way too nice! Yes, that is actually a problem for her.

17. Too Nice

While being nice can work out well for others species, for a bobcat it just doesn’t fare well. Chips and her sweet behavior can spell out a pretty fatal situation for her. So how did this all begin?

16. Wildfire

Chips was only a few weeks old when she was caught in a tragic wildlife in Plumas County, Sacramento. When rescuers first discovered her she was all alone. The poor baby was also in a horrible condition.

15. Horrible Condition

Rescuers discovered Chips in a terrible situation. The tiny bobcat was completely covered in soot and she had burns all over her paws. She was so covered in soot that she could barely open her eyes.

14. Helping Her

So rescuers took her in and began to care for her. They mended to her burns and cleaned off all of the soot from her. Then they decided to start searching for her mother.

13. Mother Hunt

The firefighters of the Mad River Ranger District began to look for the tiny bobcat’s mother. However, there was no sign of her mother anywhere and so the search ended up being unsuccessful.

12. Staff Favorite

Once she got comfortable at the shelter, Chips soon became a staff favorite. She was fed a ton of good food and given a soft bed to sleep on while she was recovering from her burns. She was really getting the princess treatment!

11. Snuggly

Chips became a real ‘snuggle bug’ and would love to cuddle up to the rescuers. However, this sweet behavior is a serious problem now that she is fully healed. Soon, Chips will have to be brought back into the wild.

10. The Wild

Now that Chips is healed, volunteers have begun to show her a bit of tough love. They’ve realized that if she is going to survive and hunt out in the wild she can’t be too soft! So how have they been accomplishing this?

9. Tough Love

One of the ways in which the rescuers are preparing Chips is through a training program. As part of the program, Chips is expected to start chasing down her own meals for dinner. These include chasing down mice and rabbits.

8. New Sleeping Arrangements

Now that her burns are fully healed, the rescuers have also removed her soft bed. She is now sleeping on the ground like she would be in the wild. However, this isn’t the only way they’re toughening her up!

7. Older Bobcats

She has also been introduced to two older male bobcats named Tuffy and Sierra. Tuffy and Sierra have been showing Chips the ropes when it comes to hunting and being tough. It has been a good learning experience for her.

6. Too Friendly

“If you have a friendly bobcat in the wild, that’s not going to work,” said volunteer Jill Tripoli. The rescuers want to ensure that Chips will survive in the wild without any problems.

5. Companionship

Although it pains them to turn her away, the staff can no longer give Chips human companionship. Anytime she starts to look for it, Tripoli squirts her with a bottle of water in order to train her.

4. Miraculous

Chips managing to stay alive despite the rampant wildfire that consumed her is a miracle in itself. Rescuers want to ensure that the miracle of her life continues once she is brought back into her natural habitat.

3. Survival

“How it survived with the fire passing through is miraculous,” said a spokesperson for the Forest Service. So has the training and tough love been working on Chips?

2. Getting Tougher

Little by little, Chips and her training have been coming together. She is starting to get that tough edge that she’ll need to better survive out in the wild. Rescuers are happy with her progress.

1. Wild Cat

Soon enough, Chips will be bought back into the wild where she’ll be expected to hunt and fend for herself. Even though the tough love has been hard, it is the best thing that the rescuers could do for sweet Chips.