From the Archives: Couple’s wild lynx is ‘tame as a house kitten’

This portrait accompanied a short story on Mrs. Olson and Gigi in the Dec. 13, 1935, Los Angeles Times:

He looks dangerous but he’s as tame as a house kitten.

Strangers back away when they encounter him, but he is just seeking to make friends.

He’s just the opposite of what is expected of a nearly full-grown 2-year-old Rocky Mountain lynx–or wildcat, or bobcat or whichever appellation is preferred.

Like a mammoth kitten he joyfully plays with a ball, rolls over on his back and purrs when chucked under the chin and in general displays all the characteristics of a house cat.

He is Gigi and belongs to Mr. and Mrs. S. P. Olson who spend their winters in California and do a lot of touring with their trailer the remainder of the year.

The couple obtained Gigi on a summer visit to the Colorado Rockies two years ago. They found him crying in a den, his mother apparently having been killed.

There are no further mentions of Mrs. Olson or Gigi in the Los Angeles Times.

See more from the Los Angeles Times archives here