Sometimes, when we go out to catch insects, we end up catching other things that aren’t relevant to our study, insects we don’t want, things we are not allowed to keep, etc.
These unintentionally captured organisms are referred to as “bycatch”.
Shelby pictured with the rescued kitten. This sweet boy settled in quite quickly and seemed to be happy to be in the cool car.
During this past week of field work and collections, one of our undergraduate technicians made the bycatch of the season!
Shelby Muntz heard a meow and spotted a kitten hiding under the house of one of our research sites. Quickly grabbing some gloves, Shelby was able to expertly extract the kitten where it was brought to a vet by a fellow lab member.
The sweet boy was deemed to be healthy – he just needed routine vaccines and was eventually neutered.
Upon trying to find a shelter or home to take him, he found his fur-ever home with one of our PhD students, Erika.
Appa’s glow-up in December 2025.
Appa now has a floofy cat-brother named Zuko and dog-sister Anya. He enjoys grooming his brother, playing with toys, looking out the window, kibbles, and snuggling/drooling on Erika.
We’re very fortunate to have compassionate people in our lab that love and care for animals! And we’re very thankful that Appa has found a wonderful home with Erika!
Appa with his big brother, Zuko. They enjoy chasing and grooming each other.