Bobcat injures Calgary woman in 'extremely unusual' encounter

Bobcats typically don't measurement much than 35 pounds, yet a caller incidental successful Calgary has near some wondering whether these tiny predators could airs a menace to humans.

An big bobcat "made contact" with a woman, leaving her with insignificant injuries including scratches, successful the southeast Calgary assemblage of Parkland soon aft 10 a.m. connected Monday, according to a connection from Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services.

As the bobcat was accompanied by kittens, Fish and Wildlife determined that the parent had "appeared to enactment defensively."

The unfortunate of the incidental was unavailable for an interrogation with CBC News, but neighbour Mike Melanson provided an eyewitness relationship of what helium saw.

"[The bobcat] went close aft that pistillate similar you wouldn't believe," helium said. "[It] jumped, [it] knocked her close to the ground, and she was down."

Melanson told CBC News helium had startled the feline by his doorway erstwhile helium saw it walking crossed his beforehand lawn, causing it to bolt successful the victim's direction.

"There was a mates lasting successful the alley … and they were watching their dog. So the bobcat ran close toward that couple, attacked the pistillate … she was facing the different way. The bobcat deed her from behind."

He said helium had not seen the kittens adjacent erstwhile the incidental occurred.

According to Melanson, the bobcat is simply a predominant show successful the neighbourhood, but this was the archetypal clip helium had heard of it harming someone.

"You don't spot excessively galore rabbits astir our country anymore," helium said. "There utilized to beryllium tons of them."

Melanson has 3 cats, and portion helium isn't alert of the bobcat sidesplitting anyone's pets either, the caller incidental with his neighbour has near him acrophobic astir the animal's presence.

Fish and Wildlife did not corroborate to CBC News whether they had located the bobcat, but stated that "as this appears to person been an isolated, accidental encounter, determination is nary imminent hazard to nationalist safety, and nary further enactment is planned astatine this time."

But not everybody agrees with that assessment.

"I privation they'd region the bobcat from the area," Melanson said. "I mean, anybody that would onslaught a quality is simply a unsafe happening to person around."

How unsafe are bobcats?

"Bobcats are people shy of humans and highly improbable to onslaught radical unless they are provoked, consciousness threatened oregon are defending their kittens," according to Fish and Wildlife.

Isolated cases of unprovoked bobcat attacks connected humans person been reported successful North America, but the likelihood of that happening stay incredibly low.

"This is an highly antithetic incident," said Scottie Potter, communications co-ordinator with the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation.

WATCH | Bobcats becoming much communal successful Calgary:

Potter, who has a inheritance successful wildlife acquisition and outreach, said bobcats typically bash not airs a menace to humans.

"The champion conjecture that we person astatine the infinitesimal is this bobcat was feeling antiaircraft astir her kittens, but adjacent that is beauteous utmost behaviour," she said.

Considering Melanson's connection indicating that the bobcat had been startled, Potter said the animal's "irregular" behaviour mightiness not needfully person been an attack.

"It sounds similar a one-in-a-million benignant of brushwood wherever an carnal panics, is my archetypal thought there," she said. "This bobcat, due to the fact that they were truthful frightened, truly wasn't possibly adjacent intending to attack, and mightiness person conscionable been trying to get the idiosyncratic to determination retired of their way."

A bobcat would airs a greater menace to tiny pets, but adjacent past the likelihood of an onslaught happening are comparatively low.

"I wouldn't needfully telephone [attacks connected cats and dogs] common," Potter said. "Considering the fig of bobcats successful Calgary, the fig of attacks connected pets is rather low."

With that successful mind, it's important to instrumentality due precautions to forestall tiny pets from being snatched.

"Bobcats tin determination precise rapidly from gait to gait if they request to. They are unthinkable athletes, truthful you ne'er cognize erstwhile a bobcat mightiness halt by," Potter said.

"If you cognize that there's a bobcat successful your area, it's champion to support your tiny pets either on-leash oregon inside."

Pet fatality earlier this year

In April, Ashley Delaney was crushed to find that her favored feline Bonnie had gone missing successful the northwest Calgary assemblage of Scenic Acres.

A neighbour who witnessed what happened told her a bobcat had ambushed Bonnie successful wide daylight.

"I conjecture the bobcat chased her nether the motortruck and picked her up," Delaney told CBC News. 

Delaney was mindful of bobcats successful the neighbourhood and made definite to support her feline safe, but Bonnie had slipped extracurricular unnoticed during operation astatine the location erstwhile the incidental happened.

"When I got home, the bobcat was nether the neighbour's platform with my cat."

Delaney said her feline had not been eaten by the predator.

"It didn't devour her oregon anything," she said. "Just killed her."

As they are in Parkland, bobcats are regularly seen successful Scenic Acres, with Delaney saying she had been seeing what were apt the aforesaid 1 oregon 2 animals astir for astatine slightest 5 years.

She said tiny pets had been known to vanish successful the neighbourhood.

Co-existing with bobcats

Sara Jordan-McLachlan, a wildlife biologist who has studied bobcats extensively, said nationalist cognition of the animals tin beryllium mixed.

"There's immoderate who are understandably acrophobic astir themselves, their ain information and their pet's safety," she said. "And past determination are others who are connected the broadside that we are sharing the abstraction with them and it's our occupation to beryllium alert of our surroundings and beryllium cautious astir interfering with them arsenic overmuch arsenic we can."

She said that the champion people of enactment to debar antagonistic encounters with bobcats is to debar areas frequented by a parent and her kittens, but acknowledged that isn't ever casual to bash erstwhile the bobcat lives successful a residential area.

"Personally, I deliberation it is inactive harmless for america to stock that abstraction if we instrumentality those precautions of being aware, wherever that feline and her kittens are, and doing our champion to debar that area, particularly if we person dogs," she said.

Jordan-McLachlan said that arsenic bobcat populations successful the metropolis increase, being mindful of their beingness is important.

"We're seeing them breeding successful caller neighbourhoods. They're feeling comfy successful these areas and safe, with capable prey successful bid to person these families successful the city, truthful they're uncovering perfect situation to grow their population," she said.

Parkland nonmigratory Denise Hans, whose spot is often visited by the bobcat and her kittens, said she had personally ne'er felt threatened by the predator's presence, but said that it whitethorn beryllium seen arsenic a problematic carnal to person around.

"We bash not privation to perceive that anybody's stressed retired trying to locomotion their pet," she said.

Hans believes the City of Calgary should put much successful wildlife absorption successful communities similar Parkland, which borders Fish Creek Provincial Park.

"There's truthful galore different neighbourhoods that [are experiencing wildlife encounters]," she said. "They request much resources. They request to amended the people."

Hans saw the bobcat again Monday night, aft Fish and Wildlife officers had spent hours astir her spot attempting to seizure it, she said.

"Unfortunately, she benignant of outwitted america all," she said. "She was truthful sneaky."