March 22, 1968
Courtesy: Special Collections and University Archives, Weber State University.
Winter 2025 Cover
Courtesy WSU Marketing & Communications
Copyright Weber State University
When I first picked her up, I was forewarned she didn’t like riding in a vehicle and should be sedated and placed in her cage, which was loaded in the back of my old pickup truck. I didn’t wish Waldo to be tranquilized and wanted her in the cab with me to avoid injury. Her caretaker was quite concerned for my safety.
She calmly sat beside me as her handler waved us away. From that moment, things spiraled down quickly. When I started the engine, she crouched with ears back emitting a low growl. Reaching for the floor shift, Waldo attacked my arm. Luckily, her canine teeth and front claws were removed when a kitten, so damage was minimal.
We rocketed away with the cat screaming and jumping between me and the passenger side window. While waiting for the light to change at a Washington Blvd. intersection, Waldo was wound up tight, emitting wildcat screams once we began moving again. Being a hot summer day, I had cracked the windows. Her caterwauls and thrashing about attracted considerable notice by drivers and those on nearby sidewalks. We finally made what seemed an interminably long drive to her new quarters. Once the truck engine was off, Waldo settled.
On numerous occasions in the year that followed, Waldo showed me her uncanny intelligence, strength, and agility. The challenge of getting her into the dog run cage was never easy. While playing fetch, it dawned on me that she would follow the ball into her cage! This worked once. The next time I threw the ball into her cage, she ran to the door, sat down, looked at me with an expression “You think I’m stupid?” One trick that always worked was tossing a hunk of raw meat into the cage- she couldn’t resist!
Another favorite game was dropping from the eight-foot-high open rafters in the garage onto my shoulders as I walked below. Waldo could effortlessly spring from the garage floor into the rafters, disappear into the shadows, and drop on my shoulders with mouth lightly pressed against my juggler “Gottcha!”, spring off and repeat this horrific act of terror against her victim.
We had our moments with the law. When neighbors saw a wildcat chasing their dog, soon after the Ogden police would appear, giving me the ultimatum to control the cat, or have it released into the wilds, which would spell doom for habituated Waldo without canines and front claws. She would soon starve, be hit by a car, shot, or lost to a predator. When her caretaker returned, it was a difficult parting, when I left Utah to continue my studies in Michigan.
This is Jack Greene for Bridgerland Audubon Society and I’m Wild about Utah Wildcats!
Credits:
Image: Wildcat WSU Alumni Magazine Winter 2025 Cover, Courtesy WSU Marketing & Communications, Copyright Weber State University. (Digital copy made available by Utah Digital Newspapers), https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=21945988
Image: Waldo Celebrates 60, Cover, Wildcat, WSU Alumni Magazine, Winter 2025, Courtesy Alumni Magazine Staff, Copyright Weber State University
Featured Audio: Courtesy & © Anderson, Howe and Wakeman
Text: Jack Greene, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading: Jack Greene & Lyle W Bingham, Webmaster, Bridgerland Audubon, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading:
Jack Greene’s Postings on Wild About Utah, https://wildaboututah.org/author/jack/
Johnson, Marian, He’s a She!, Signpost, Weber State University Student Newspaper, https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=21945988
Bobcat – Lynx rufus, Fieldguide, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, https://fieldguide.wildlife.utah.gov/?species=lynx%20rufus
Harris, Kandice & Winston, Jaime, Waldo Celebrates 60, Wildcat, the WSU Alumni Magazine, Weber State University, https://www.weber.edu/wsumagazine/waldo-60-anniversary.html