Man beats attacking bobcat with his crutches to fend it off, Connecticut official says

An aggressive bobcat recently terrorized several residents in a rural Connecticut town, officials said.

A resident of Columbia, a sparsely populated town about 25 miles east of Hartford, was bitten in the leg by a bobcat hiding underneath his pickup truck on Dec. 23, Mark Walter, the town administrator, told McClatchy News.

The man, who was leaving for work, began yelling and attempted to retreat into his house without allowing the cat to follow, Walter said.

Moments later, the man’s neighbor opened his garage door, and the bobcat bounded over and set upon him.

The neighbor, who was walking with crutches, defended himself by beating the animal with both crutches, Walter said.

“The wife finally came out and got a piece of plywood and threw it at the cat, which made it leave the garage,” Walter said.

The attacks did not result in any serious injuries, but the man who was bitten in the leg was administered rabies shots, Walter said.

Later on, someone walking in Mono Pond State Park, a nearby preserve, reported seeing the animal, Walter said.

The state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) was notified and an animal control officer later searched the area, but was unable to find the cat, a town news release stated.

Many of Columbia’s several thousand residents are now on high alert for the cat, Walter said. “On Facebook, it’s gone crazy and everyone’s keeping their eyes open.”

It was a “weird situation,” Walter added. “It’s not normal.”

Upon encountering a bobcat, town residents should slowly back away, make noise and spray the animal with water, if possible, Columbia officials said.

Though they predominantly prey on rabbits, squirrels, mice, birds and other wild animals, they occasionally eat small domestic animals, according to DEEP.

Connecticut’s bobcat population, once on the brink of disappearance, has recovered in recent decades due to reforestation and legal protections, according to DEEP.

This story was originally published December 28, 2022 at 1:03 PM with the headline "Man beats attacking bobcat with his crutches to fend it off, Connecticut official says."