If you ever felt on a lynx claw, the word sharpness get a
new meaning! They are really sharp, and they have 20 of them. At one point in
the early nineties, I got acquainted with a young male lynx that would be
anesthetized and be provided with a radio transmitter. It was the first time a
wild lynx would be radiolabeled in Sweden.
The idea was that I should keep the cat while the researcher
gave it a syringe in the ass … Good thinking! Problem was simply that the
lynx would not allow itself to be caught! It WAS a mistake that we forgot to
secure one of the snares. (Of course, the snare he got stuck in) It gave the
animal a operating radius of 20 meters instead of the intended 2 meters.
After a number of more or less unsuccessful hunting leap
(which probably would have got all the predators in the world being ashamed to
death, if they have seen it!) We finally met head to head under a granary,
that’s when he showed me his sharp claws. Eight of them stroked quite next to
my nose. It was thrilling! All too exciting for my taste …
As most of you probably know, is a kitten relaxed and
passive when the mother lift it by the scruff … Do not do that with a lynx!
It does not work. I expected to grab a relaxed woolly cuddly toy but met a guy
in full battle mode and I can promise you, that hurt!
Everything finally worked. The lynx got its transmitter, the
scientist (yes, the lynx got him, too) and I got a tetanus shot at the local hospital,
and then we all got a very exciting summer together. But that’s another story.
