Woman Finds Injured Bobcat, Puts It in Car With Toddler

'This could have been tragic,' officials say
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 20, 2019 1:16 AM CDT
Woman Puts Injured Bobcat Next to Toddler in Car
In this photo taken Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019, provided by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, an injured bobcat stares from the back of an SUV after a Colorado Springs, Colo., woman placed it in her car, just inches away from where her child was sitting in a safety seat.   (Colorado Parks and Wildlife via AP)

Picking up wild animals is always a bad idea, wildlife officials say—and placing an injured bobcat next to your child is an especially bad idea. Parks and Wildlife officials in Colorado say a Colorado Springs woman was lucky her 3-year-old boy wasn't badly hurt or even killed by an adult male bobcat she spotted while driving, ABC reports. Officials say the woman picked up the mortally injured animal, wrapped it in a blanket, and placed it just inches away from her son's car seat in the back of her SUV before calling authorities. Officials say that when the woman called to ask what to do, they told her to get herself and the child out of the car immediately, the AP reports.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife's office in the southeast of the state says that when wildlife officer Sarah Watson responded to the call, she found an unrestrained wild bobcat in the back of an SUV under a blanket. "The adult male bobcat was alert, hissing and growling, as Officer Watson secured it with a catch pole," the agency said in a tweet. "It struggled and swiped at her with its front claws. Upon examination, she saw the estimated 25-pound bobcat's rear legs were paralyzed so she humanely euthanized the animal." The animal, fortunately, "was too injured to react to being picked up and placed in a car," the agency said. "But no one should EVER try this. This could have been tragic." (Earlier this year, a rabid bobcat attacked a golfer in Connecticut.)

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