Baby bobcat wanders into auto parts store

SANFORD – A kitten that wandered into an auto parts store on Monday elicited oohs and aahs from onlookers.

But this was no ordinary kitty. It was a feisty, frightened bobcat.

The tiny feline entered VIP Auto shortly before 8 a.m. as Jason Hamilton of Sanford arrived to buy new tires.

“It just came walking in. I tried to call him like a normal cat, but he wouldn’t come,” Hamilton said.

The bobcat wandered the length of the store before heading into the restroom, where it hid behind the toilet before employees closed the restroom door.

Sanford police officers dispatched to the scene looked at the animal, agreed that it looked like a bobcat, and notified the Maine Warden Service.

Warden Alan Curtis, who was in town, theorized that the bobcat kitten had come in from the woods at the rear of the store.

“It’s only a few weeks old,” said Curtis, who estimated its weight at a pound or 2. “It’s probably scared to death.”

After donning thick, welding-type gloves, Curtis brought the kitten out in a red plastic basket. It was transferred to a cardboard box, with a lid and air holes, and was headed to the Maine Wildlife Park in Gray.