Eunice woman honored as state Volunteer Conservationist of the Year

“I like the way you walk, I like the way you talk, Susie Q.”
Well, Susie Q’s eyes aren’t even open yet, and she can’t talk, but if she could, she would say thanks to Pamela Kay Connery, founder and volunteer executive director of the Louisiana Bobcat Refuge located near Eunice.
“I got a rescue call for a bobcat kitten from Shreveport,” Connery said. “A father and a son were bushogging a field, and they spotted her. The tractor must have scared the mother off. They left the kitten there for a day, which is what you should do, but the mother did not come back to get her. The father called a vet, the vet called a rehabber and the rehabber called me. The kitten still had her umbilical cord attached when they found her.”
She continued, “Once I talked to Dr. Ned (Fruge), it helped me to remember to be extra cautious with her at this early stage. The youngest I’ve gotten was 11 days back in 2011, so we’re being extra careful with her as a precaution, since she has virtually no antibodies and since she was found with the umbilical cord still attached. She’s pretty lucky to still be alive right now.”
On Tuesday, Connery drove to Shreveport to pick up the baby bobcat, and such rescue missions are just one of the reasons Connery was recently named the 2015 Volunteer Conservationist of the Year.
Connery received her award during the 52nd Governor’s State Conservation Achievement Awards Program April 2 in Baton Rouge. The event was hosted by the Louisiana Wildlife Federation. Six individuals, including Connery, and an education program, an organization and a business were recognized for achievements in natural resource conservation.
The awards are presented jointly by Louisiana Wildlife Federation and the National Wildlife Federation. Nominations were submitted by the public, and a panel of independent judges with expertise in a wide range of conservation fields selected the winners.
“It is an honor for the refuge to receive recognition from the Louisiana Wildlife Federation,” Connery said. “It’s such a great recognition. What we do is a team effort, and we will continue to provide assistance to all organizations that support Louisiana wildlife.”
She continued, “We have a great network of help. It is a team effort with vets who believe that bobcats are of value. We couldn’t do what we do without vets, volunteers, support from public, our board of directors and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.”
Before working with bobcats in Louisiana, Connery worked with Canadian lynx in Nashville, Tennesse. When she moved back to Louisiana, she met with other wildlife rehabbers in the state and learned there were no bobcat refuges in Louisiana. Connery then gained the sponsorship of a Baton Rouge vet to become a Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries-permitted rehabilitator, and she is one of less than 20 in the country who are certified to handle bobcats.
Connery founded the refuge in 2010, and the refuge is the only rehabilitation and refuge center for bobcats and other felines in the state and one of only a few in the nation. The center is self-funded but does accept monetary donations or gift donations. In addition to cats rescued from the wild, the rehab center also takes in wild seized cats that were illegally kept and zoo retirees. Connery said she is not allowed to reveal how many cats have been rehabilitated or where the refuge is located, but eight cats are permanent residents of the refuge.
“It is hard to get public support and donations when we are not open to the public,” Connery added.
Seizures and zoo retirees are sometimes used in the kitten surrogate program for felines that are being rehabilitated. Connery said it usually takes about one year to rehabilitate a baby bobcat before it is ready to be released into the wild.
As executive director of the refuge, Connery has several projects in the works.
“We have some really great things going on this year,” she said.
Connery is working on a proposal to have accountability for bobcats hunted and killed in the state, and she would like to see a tag system put in place for those who harvest the animal. The limit on bobcats is one per year per hunter, and the season is open year-round. Connery said she is concerned the limit is being abused by hunters who may just being using them for target practice or killing them as nuisance animals.
“Bobcats litter one time a year and have one to four kittens in each litter,” she said. “Hunters can shoot them, even during the mating season.”
In addition to gathering harvest data, Connery is also working to determine an estimate of the state’s bobcat population.
“There is no way to tell what the population is,” she said. “There is no data, no tracking. They are elusive creatures, and there are not many sightings.”
Through the “I Shot a Bobcat” hunter awareness campaign, hunters are asked to submit game camera photos and videos of live bobcats to the refuge’s Facebook page. With the information, Connery will compile areas of bobcat activity in the state, and the information will be used in a future GPS and scent pad study.
“I encourage those who have shots of bobcats on their game cameras to submit the photo, and we will have random prizes for submissions,” Connery said. “The was a campaign like this done in New Hampshire, and it was a huge success.
“With the pictures, we hope to see where the majority of the bobcats are and educate people of the bobcat’s significance and importance.”
Connery is also working on a proposal to have the bobcat declared the state cat.
“The species is taken for granted,” Connery said. “People have a varied opinion of them. Some people want them for wall mounts and some like to admire them in wild.
“People thought bears and alligators would be here forever. We don’t know the count of bobcats. We don’t know if they will be here forever. They need to be cared for. The population study and education are important.”
For information about the refuge and making a donation to the refuge, visit www.louisianabobcatrefuge.com or www.facebook.com/bigpurrsbobcatrefuge.