Bobcat hit by car on the mend at wildlife center

BELLEVILLE — A bobcat is on the mend after being hit by a car near Belleville in southwestern Illinois.

Mike Neiner tells the Belleville News-Democrat that his wife saw the animal injured on a road Wednesday and called him.

He says he loaded the unconscious female bobcat into his truck, took her home briefly and called the Treehouse Wildlife Center based in Dow.

Treehouse wildlife technician Pam Lippert retrieved the animal. X-rays later showed the bobcat didn’t suffer any broken bones, although the cat probably has a concussion.

Lippert says the possibility of the bobcat being released back into the wild could depend on the extent of its brain damage.