Fawn and Bobcat: An Odd Couple's Amazing Relationship

Most passionate cat lovers will love this touching account about a friendship that developed between a very unlikely pair of baby animals that connected with each other out of necessity in their attempt to handle and survive the devastating destruction of their home territories. The moment I saw this heart-touching photograph that I found the other day, which has widely been circulating around the Internet, my first reaction was to marvel at how deeply ingrained nurturing instincts must exist for such a deep bond to develop between two species, who under other circumstances would never connect in friendship. In fact, we can learn a great deal about compassion and unconditional love from this compelling story. Two weeks ago, a very unlikely pair of baby animals became best friends. The Jesuita Fire that raged in Santa Barbara, California created the situation in which these frightened animals formed their very unique connection, shortly after they were rescued near Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's ranch. The three week-old bobcat kitten found in Carpenteria was close to death from dehydration, and the baby fawn, only three days old, rescued from the fire, found one another and snuggled closely together for several hours, under the desk in the Santa Barbara County Dispatch office. I can only speculate about how the rescue personnel reacted to this "odd couple" connection, as somebody took the time to snap their photograph and was therefore able to preserve this rather amazing demonstration of affection and emotion. According to Santa Barbara rescue personnel, due to their stringent regulations, separate species are never housed together. But due to the chaos which the fires created, and an overwhelming number of animals requiring rescue, there was hardly a choice about where to situate all of them. After running out of crates which were large enough to could temporarily house the baby fawn, the kitten immediately ran toward the fawn and "love at first sight" prevailed; instantly bonding the pair. I am still deeply moved each time I see the photograph, and wonder if their budding friendship would continue if they had been permitted to remain together. What do you think? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.