Rabies

[Dschur]

Rabid bobcat attacks hikers



Friday, April 25, 2008


TUCSON (AP) -- A rabid bobcat that attacked a couple hiking in the mountains outside Tucson Saturday was killed by the man at the conclusion of the 10-minute confrontation, and the couple is now receiving anti-rabies shots.

Katrina Mangin and Rich Thompson were hiking in the Santa Rita Mountains when they spotted the cat, who stared at them. He said they tried to get away but the bobcat pursued them, lunging at Mangin, climbing up her legs and wrapping its body around her, clawing and biting.

The couple fought off the bobcat, but it continued attacking.

"I hit it with the backpack over my shoulder," he said. The cat fell to the dirt and lunged again. "It attacked me again, and I threw it down."

Finally, Thompson took out his geologist's hammer and killed the animal.

"It's very sad," Thompson said. "This poor kitty cat was deranged by its disease-riddled brain. I love the native cats. It was terrible to have to kill it."

The couple are both scientists at the University of Arizona, Thompson a geologist and his wife a marine biologist.

After the attack they drove to a Tucson hospital, where they were given anti-rabies shots and strong antibiotics for their puncture wounds. They returned to retrieve the dead bobcat the next day with Mark Friedberg, wildlife manager with the Arizona Game & Fish Department.

An attack by a rabid animal "is definitely kind of rare," Friedberg said.

They each received another rabies injection Tuesday and will get three more treatments.

Pima County Health officials last week warned of an increase in rabies cases in the area, with 38 reported near the Pima-Pinal county line as of April 18, officials said. That's double the number from the same period in 2007.

[PaleoRob]

Holy cow!

I'm curious if its typical reporting, but it says they tried to get away, but the cat pursued them. It doesn't say the cat attacked them before that, and running away from a wild cat can trigger its "that's prey!" response. Very interesting article either way, thanks for posting it.

[Jeffshadows]

When I saw the article on the cover of the paper here I wondered the exact same thing. Running into a bobcat in the daylight hours is usually a good sign that the cat may be rabid, anyway; so why would you run away from it?! Typically, standing your ground and letting the animal know you're not having 'it' is enough to get them to lose interest. Making a lot of noise and chucking rocks near to it works pretty well, too, especially with coyotes\wolves that are acting strangely or taking too much of an interest in what you're up to...

Years and years back when I was a Scout we found a bobcat kitten in the evening hours and, dumb kids we were, though it was a lost house cat (They're roughly the same size). Momma cat wasn't far behind and closed ground quickly to grab her progeny. Out of sheer lack of understanding about what to do we just stood there staring as she hauled the little one back off into the woods. It wasn't until we got back fireside that our poor flabbergasted Scoutmaster realized what was going on and said: "At least you guys did the right thing."

[azbackpackr]

I don't think standing your ground or running away is going to make a big difference to a rabid animal. They are totally deranged, so the behavior can't be predicted.

[Jeffshadows]

Let's hope neither of us ever finds out...