# @natgeo on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/COlqu0xrUfA
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/11684732-natgeo-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/ea58ae91c2.jpg
- **Posted:** 2021-05-07T22:30:20.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** National Geographic (@NatGeo) — https://gondola.cc/NatGeo

## Caption

Photo by Karine Aigner kaigner / I spent several months photographing this family of wild bobcats denning under a house on a ranch in Texas. We met by accident when the kittens were about 10 weeks old, beginning a story that continues to the present. 

One evening, the female bobcat I call Momcat left on a walkabout with her two male kittens. The little female, thoroughly engrossed in bug pouncing, barely looked up as they went out through the fence. I watched for a while, thinking Momcat would be back, or the male kittens would return on their own. But no one came. At sunset I found the little female alone in the “kitten tree,” where so often they all spent the night together while their mom hunted. Hours later, at sunrise, sitting in the middle of the yard, the kitten was crying and calling, her whimpers falling on deaf ears. I’d made a deal with myself early on: I would never interfere. And just as I was about to entertain the idea of what I would do if Momcat never came back—there she stood, as if to say, “How dare you even think about interfering?! This is MY lesson. This is how they learn.” The reunion had tears streaming down my face. The two spent the afternoon under the deck. And later, when Momcat was ready to go—little female attached like industrial Velcro to her side—the two left through the fence, together.

And so I learned. Had I interfered and let human emotions get the best of me, the little kitten would not have gotten the natural training she needs to survive in the wild. I would have compromised her life. But, more importantly, I learned that this is how bobcats teach their young … bit by bit, little by little, and they DO know best. Momcat did this many other times, leaving the males behind one by one as well. If you ever find bobcat kittens, leave them alone for at least 24 hours—mothers will leave kittens for that long. Unless they are compromised, they will always come back! #bobcatchronicles #bobcats #nativespecies

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## Tags

bobcats, bobcatchronicles, nativespecies

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