Bobcat (also need safety advise)

[cozmocha]

I was out wondering the wetlands today and I looked in front of me and saw this bobcat wonder out of the woods to the water. I was about 30-40 feet away. I wasn't sure what to do because it sure had me cornered if it wanted to. So I watched it in the tall grass and it keeps coming towards me but still doesn't see me. It starts to walk out of the tall grass and all of a sudden spots me and stares me down. Photographing the pretty thing was not my priority. I thought if I was to get down to eye level for some good shots it might think I'm an easy kill so I stood tall and proud. If it wanted me it had to work for it because I was the aggressor. So it started running away down the path back into the woods.

Was I over cautious here? I have never dealt with wild cats so I did not know what it might do. I know the was an amazing opportunity but I just didn't want to push it.

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[ksbryan0]

Great find, cozmocha. In our neck of the woods, bobcats pose virtually zero threat to anything larger than a jackrabbit, and usually flee when they sight people. Mountain lions, on the other hand, can be a threat in the kind of situation you described where you would be down low in the grass. The best defense when confronted by a lion is to "act big", as you did with your cat. It is rare for lions to attack adults, but when they do it is often because the cat perceived them to be small, because of what they were doing at the time. It is difficult to tell from the pictures, but your bobcat appears to be larger than ours (which are generally about 3 ft from rump to head), if so, they might be more aggressive with larger animals.

[Grandpaw]

Great picture and story. If this happened to me I think I would start carrying an extra pair of underwear with me, just in case it was needed, Jeff :blush2: :blush2:

[cozmocha]

One reason why I freaked out at first was in the tall grass it looked a bit bigger almost like a Panther...

My guess would be this thing is 3-4 feet long but not very tall. From what I hear they have been known to take down deer so I figured I'm not much bigger then a deer.

[armando_m]

Nice photos, I like the second one and how you catch up in the air !

so basically we're saying the thing is like a cat the size of a german shepperd ?
I certainly wouldn't want it angry at me !

[paulnj]

Very nice find. I would think a cat that size is far too smart to want to attack a human unless it apsolutely needs to.

[mn shutterbug]

Uffda. Under the circumstances, you did good.

[Dylan8i]

Very nice find. I would think a cat that size is far too smart to want to attack a human unless it apsolutely needs to.

thats what i wanted to say, but in many more words. I wouldn't be afraid of a bob cat under most circumstances, and would figure i could fight one off pretty easily.

however its more important for you to feel comfortable with the situation.

[Singletracklovr]

I don't think you would want to make a BC feel trapped. He may not be able to kill you but he could do some damage. Excellent shots by the way. Thank you for sharing them.