http://www.ajc.com/thursday/content/epaper/editions/thursday/metro_047cee15d2153
2af0052.html

Buckhead lynx takes bait: A chicken snack

Breeder set trap that brought wildcat home

Milo Ippolito - Staff

Sasquatch, the missing lynx, is back home in Buckhead, though
it's not entirely welcome by the neighbors.

After a two-week tour of the Mount Paran neighborhood, the oversized
cat was caught Tuesday by its owner, wildcat breeder Fred Boyajian,
state wildlife officials said.

The lynx, a North American wildcat, had been prowling through yards
and startling residents. Sasquatch looks a lot like a house cat but is
as big as a golden retriever. His owner said he had escaped after
a falling tree damaged his outdoor pen.

Neighbors raised complaints about the animals at a meeting Sunday,
but there may be little they can do. Boyajian has a state license
to raise wildcats and has about a dozen at his home. State
Department of Natural Resources officials say he has been properly
licensed for 20 years, and his facility passed a reinspection last
week.

He is one of four lynx breeders in Georgia and the only one in
the city, the DNR said. He is licensed to sell lynxes to exhibitors
such as zoos or circuses but not as pets in Georgia.

"I don't understand why anybody in their right mind would give him
permits to raise wildcats in a neighborhood," said Margo Boden, who
lives on Paces Valley Road, the same street as Boyajian.

Boyajian did not return calls for comment Tuesday or Wednesday. He
has voiced his displeasure with the media attention drawn by the
escape.

Sasquatch's taste of freedom ended inside a trap baited with chicken.
"It's a few pounds lighter and a little dehydrated, but other than
that it's pretty healthy," said Raymond Carnley, a spokesman
for the state Wildlife Resources Division.

Boyajian put out the trap, Carnley said, after a neighbor
spotted the cat in her yard.

This wasn't the first of Boyajian's animals to escape, state records
and neighbors say. The Wildlife Resources Division notes there had
been two brief escapes in the past two years. Boyajian retrieved
the cats the same day.

Here's a story which ran the day before:

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/0604/10wildcat.html

Loose lynx put spotlight on legal breeder, upsetting him, residents

By MILO IPPOLITO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/09/04

Neighbors of a man who raises big wildcats on a residential
Buckhead street are fed up with his oversized felines.

"Issuing permits in a residential area to breed exotic wild
animals seems a little bit crazy to me," said Veanne Smith,
who lives in the Mount Paran area.

Fred Boyajian of Paces Valley Road is a licensed wildlife
breeder who has been operating legally for 20 years,
according to the state Department of Natural Resources.
Breeders must be in compliance with city and county codes
before they can get a state license, DNR officials said.
His facility passed a reinspection last week, officials said.

Boyajian, who was upset with media coverage following the
escape of a lynx from his property Memorial Day weekend,
said he fears the unintended attention could pose a threat
to the safety of his animals and the security of
his operation.

"I'm a very private person, and I don't need this publicity,"
Boyajian said earlier this week, before the lynx was recaptured.
The animal, named Sasquatch, was hanging out in the yard of a
neighbor who alerted Boyajian, who set a trap and secured the
animal. The wildcat weighed a little less than when he left
home and was dehydrated, but seemed no worse for the wear.

Smith questions whether breeding big cats "is a reasonable
thing to do in a neighborhood with small children."

Some residents had no idea there were wild predators nearby
until the lynx got loose and began roaming the neighborhood.

The lynx, which resembles a house cat but is the size of a
golden retriever, had been spotted in back yards and on
porches, staring into homes, apparently in search of food
and shelter. It didn't hurt anyone, but startled a few.

According to stories that circulated in the neighborhood
while the cat was loose, one person jumped into a pool upon
seeing it. Another person is said to have grabbed a chair
to fend it off, lion-tamer style.

Smith said her 4-year-old was scared about going to Chastain
Park to watch a youth all-star game and asked whether big
cats go to baseball fields. A neighbor said her son took
his baseball bat when he went outside to fetch the mail.

State wildlife biologist Scott Frazier said a lynx in the
wild normally won't eat anything bigger than a raccoon,
an assessment that offered little comfort to parents of
infants and toddlers.

The topic was discussed Sunday at a homeowners meeting
in Kingswood, the subdivision where Boyajian lives.

Residents discussed their concern but questioned whether
there is anything they could do.

There have been incidents in previous years in which cats
escaped their confines, but Boyajian was able to retrieve
them the same day, according to DNR reports.

"This is the first one we know of that has escaped and has
been out of the cage for an extended period of time," said
Raymond Carnley, a spokesman for the state Wildlife
Resource Division.

The animal got loose after tree debris knocked over part
of a fence during a storm, Carnley said.

Boyajian has a dozen or more big cats in pens on his property,
Carnley said. The lynx, which is native to North America,
is the largest breed Boyajian is licensed to raise.

He is licensed to sell them to zoos, circuses and other
commercial exhibitors but he cannot sell them as pets
in Georgia, where they are illegal as house pets, Carnley said.

Driving by his home, you'd never know wild animals are being
raised there. Boyajian's home is set back from the road on
wooded property. He tends to keep to himself, both he and
neighbors say.

**************************************************************

In the first place, I'm not thrilled about the idea of raising most
types of "higher order" wild animals in captivity (snakes, for
example, I could care less about being raised in captivity) unless
there's an issue of preserving the species. In addition, I understand
the neighbors concerns.  I'm surprised the zoning laws allow this guy
to raise animals in a residential area.

Poor cat-it sounds like he didn't have any hunting skills-I would
think a wildcat  would have been able to live off of squirrels, birds
and rabbits in the woods where it was loose but my guess is that this
poor fellow was been raised in captivity since he was young and just
knew to look for food from people. I'm glad he was found OK but not
particularly enthused about him living his life in a pen.