Roger Mundell Jr said all he heard was a hiss before the wild cat pounced on him, sinking its teeth into his face and its claws in his back. The bobcat then ran out of the garage in Brookfield, Massachusetts, and bit Mr Mundell's 15-year-old nephew on the arms and back.
"It only took a split second for him to be on me," Mr Mundell told said. "I didn't have time to process it." Mr Mundell and his wife eventually pinned the cat to the ground with a crutch and shot it dead with a handgun.
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All three of those involved are being treated for rabies. His wife was not bitten but she came into contact with the animal's blood. State environmental police took the bobcat to have it tested for rabies, which they think is likely given its unusual behaviour.
5 comments:
"State environmental police took the bobcat to have it tested for rabies, which they think is likely given its unusual behaviour."
Horse puckey. That's pretty typical behavior for a bobcat if it feels trapped, as it was in the garage. In the open, they'll always flee humans, (you'll rarely even see one, in fact), but if they have limited escape routes they'll turn quite aggressive. Sounds like the "state environmental police" know damn-all about wildlife -- which isn't surprising, unfortunately.
just trying to justify the coast of the rabies medicine. bureaucratic cya
phat thumbed the word cost
I guess it'll come out in the endwhether the animal had rabies, but I have to disagree with Anonymous there about its behavior being normal for a bobcat. Yes, it was trapped in the garage but it wasn't trapped when it attacked the second person outside. Bobcats are very shy and elusive animals. Once free a healthy bobcat would flee, not stick around for another fight. My guess is the animal is rabid. I'm an animal lover but I would have shot it too. And whether it was shot or not, inititally rabies treatment would be warranted.
Actually, it's been confirmed that the bobcat did indeed have rabies.
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