One he never found. Five were healthy enough to evade him from capturing them. The seventh — a 16-pound hamburger-eating cub dubbed Smokey Junior — went home with him.
Hunnicutt is a California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist specializing in carnivores. He and the CDFW are part the Wildlife Disaster Network, a coalition of University of California at Davis vets and other professionals saving animals from this year’s history-making wildfires.
Drought throughout much of the state, triple-digit summers and wind mean fires are moving faster than usual. These can overtake animals trying to flee.
“I have the impression that there have been (fewer) burned animals rescued,” said Lais Costa, a veterinarian and the director of operations for the Veterinary Emergency Response Team at UC Davis. “This might be because there has been a better evacuation effort or because those animals (died from their injuries) and were not able to be rescued.”
Others, like Lava Bob, were saved.
During the Lava Fire in July, Hunnicutt responded to a report of an “emaciated mountain lion” loose on a Lake Shastina golf course.
When he arrived he found an injured and starving bobcat. “His paws were so burnt. He was so skinny — only 16 pounds. I was surprised I could get a dart in him,” Hunnicutt said.
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