‘Lucky’ black cat leads game warden to ‘trail of kittens’ that braved Texas wildfire

Walking through the blackened aftermath of the devastating Smokehouse Creek Fire, a Texas game warden crossed paths with an exceptionally “lucky black cat,” officials say.

Sarah Wennersten was surveying wildfire damage near Lubbock, “mapping and assessing the rubble left behind,” when she ran into the petite, charcoal-colored feline, state wildlife officials said in a March 5 news release. But contrary to superstitious belief, the encounter was actually very fortunate.

Soon, Wennersten spotted a second cat, then a third, and found herself following a “trail of kittens,” officials said.

Eventually, she came upon a kitten that hadn’t escaped the fire untouched, officials said. Wennersten saw it was “suffering from singed fur and an injured paw,” though a medical crew determined the kitten’s injuries weren’t life-threatening.

Still, even with the flames and smoke now gone, the kittens had nowhere to go.

“Since the area was evacuated during the fire, the cat’s owners could not be located,” officials said.

The cats were fed and given water before being turned over to the Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team for a check up.

McClatchy News has reached out to Texas A&M and state wildlife officials for an update on the kittens.

Since it began burning on Feb. 26, the Smokehouse Creek Fire has destroyed at least 500 buildings, scorched over 1.1 million acres of land and claimed two lives, McClatchy reported. It is the largest wildfire in state history.

This story was originally published March 6, 2024 at 12:00 PM with the headline "‘Lucky’ black cat leads game warden to ‘trail of kittens’ that braved Texas wildfire."