Wow...a rabid bobcat. Bang Bang Maxwell! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Guess those hikers are going through a rabies injection series about now.
That's for dang sure! But it's more fun than a 99.99999% death rate. I think there is only one documented rabies survivor (without injections) and that girl recovered to graduate high school with honors just recently. She still suffers some effects.
A bobcat is the last critter I'd expect to encounter diseased. I've had raccoons, dogs, possums, skunks, and the odd squirrel show up sick in my park but the bobcats are so stealthy we'll see them maybe once every two years. Wonder how much fore-warning the guy with the rock hammer had?? A 'daytime' bobcat is just wrong!
Believe it or not, bobcats are the popular stories of rabid animals attacking folks we've been getting for years in SoAZ.
They eat all the rabid raccoons, coati, skunks, etc.
One attacked two other folks in a popular and populated campground on the NE side of the Catalina Mtns a couple weeks ago. That one was dispatched with the traditional hammer mechanically connected to trigger process -
"The first attack was on a 67-year-old man who is a camp host and lives on the grounds, Southard said. The man told authorities the bobcat ran out from under something and bit him in the abdomen. He pried the cat off at which time it ran farther into the campground where it attacked a 13-year-old boy"
The most interesting tale to me was a few years ago when a rabid one took a large man down to the ground in his own drive way in the middle of a Tucson neighborhood and he had to let it eat on his hand and arm to save a neck biting.
They are not uncommon or overly stealthy, rabid or otherwise in the metro area and domestic animals stand less chance of escaping the bobcats that coyotes - so they are well fed.
I've got two known bobcats in my park (i'm caretaker) and they've gotten 3 of my house kitties. When housecats here graduate to fat, middle aged cats, they become part of the food chain, especially when they challenge the big female bobcat at the end of the alley. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Even though public perception of coyotes is not in the dog's favor, they've never caused a problem here and provide constant entertainment.
It's easy to tell what got your pet. Coyotes make a mess of the animal. Bobcats whisk it away without a trace and bury it for later meals, leaving only a trace of fur in the grass from the quick struggle. There's a 'midden' under our local bobcats den with little house cat bones mixed in with the dirt. Like a scene from "Predator". <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />
BobEFord, you've got way too many rabid cats there!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />
Yep...coyotes eat the middle and leave the head/tail/backbone/legs behind. In the middle of the yard. Yay..... The coyotes on the island were excellent hunters of rabbits. I usually wouldn't clean it up as the hawks and eagles would come in later in the morning. Natures circle I suppose and all. The cats were very careful to never stray far away.
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"The first attack was on a 67-year-old man who is a camp host and lives on the grounds, Southard said. The man told authorities the bobcat ran out from under something and bit him in the abdomen. He pried the cat off at which time it ran farther into the campground where it attacked a 13-year-old boy"
This reminds me of the rabbit attack scene in Monty Python's "and the Holy Grail"
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I had my 45 auto loaded and packed before my recent trip and removed it after realizing that it weighed a ton. When we got to the woods there were hunters and I heard gunfire off in the distance. Late that night, I heard something get attacked and probably eaten by something. It sounded like a pack of dogs of some sort? Next time I'm packing and will offset the weight by leaving other usless items. I think my 45 weighs about the same as a hammer. Another story: I have a friend that bow hunts and shot a wild boar. The pig ran off down the trail. My friend went looking for it and heard something behind him. As he turned to see, the pig tried to charge him. My friend jumped on the pig and pulled the arrow out of the wound and repeatedly jambed into the pig putting it down. When he told me, I couldn't believe my ears, but another person that was with him comfirmed it. What a wild man. Just to give you an idea about this guy, he hand grabs giant catfish, helps tag alligators, with the fish and game commission and can field dress a deer faster than anyone I've ever seen. He likes people to time him. He doesn't call it hunting. He calls it Smack down time, and counts the days and minutes until hunting season.
Slug guy My rock hammer weighs more like a pound and a half, so my ice axe would be a lighter better defensive tool.
About 3am this morning some animal, maybe a cat or raccoon got into my basement and flipped out. We could hear it running and screaming and bouncing off the walls and floor below. My dog went nuts and then IT went nuts trying to get away - I kept the dog upstairs. This went on for about 15 minutes until I got dressed and grabbed a flashlight and went down and turned all the lights on in the basement and sub-basement and left the doors and garage door open so it could get out. I knew that at the speed it was moving I couldn't use a weapon anyway and I hoped it wasn't a rabid mtn lion. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />
My wife said I was brave, but then shes seen me run javelina and a lion out of camp waving my arms [ with a machete but still] <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
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These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.
"The first attack was on a 67-year-old man who is a camp host and lives on the grounds, Southard said. The man told authorities the bobcat ran out from under something and bit him in the abdomen. He pried the cat off at which time it ran farther into the campground where it attacked a 13-year-old boy"
This reminds me of the rabbit attack scene in Monty Python's "and the Holy Grail"
Ahhaaahhaaa.... Love that movie... "That rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide, it's a killer!"
Funny Ya here all about man displacing animals, but I understand there are 3 times more raccoons living inside city limits than out. If you move into a forest, all the critters move into you house. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I know for a fact that there are wood rat nests and bird nests and many different creatures that live inside, under an under the shingles of my house. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> The bats in the yard at dusk live under my shingles. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />
Theres a broken rock wall 30 feet behind my house thats home to many more creatures including a huge raccoon that we've seen 3 times. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> They all drink at our stream or pond. Besides being in a major bird flyway, we have bald eagles and osprey and great horned owls. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> We also have tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, pikas, voles, skunks, wood rats, and deer. Further up [the mtn] are cougar, turkey, coyotes, and elk. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />
Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> p.s. whatever it was it won't come back soon. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />
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These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.
Sounds like Rick took off first and left Katrina there to deal with the cat. Exactly what I would have done. Me and my little hammer headin' for the car. Except he went back???
My rock hammer weighs more like a pound and a half
Well....lets get creative and drill some holes in the handle, remove the manufacturers tag and peal off the SKU# <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
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