WYMAN TOWNSHIP, Maine - A 90-year-old woman grabbed a bobcat by the tail to free her beloved pet cat from the wildcat's mouth. Mildred Luce, who lives alone, said the action began one recent day when she looked outside her window and saw the bobcat lying on its side with the head of her 20-year-old cat, Smudge, in its mouth.Luce ran out the door, grabbed an aluminum snow shovel and pushed it down on the bobcat's neck. But it held on tight.
"Then I took hold of its head with my hand and pulled on its tail, and Smudge popped out," she said.
Smudge hightailed into the house with the bobcat hot on her heels. Once inside, the wildcat calmed down and appeared more bewildered than aggressive, Luce said, wandering from room to room before walking into the bathroom.
A neighbor whom Luce had called for help secured the door until Warden Mark Rollins arrived and snared the animal as it hid behind a shower curtain.
She probably had no thought in her head about the danger to herself from the bobcat; all she could see was that her beloved cat had been attacked.
I know how she felt. When my husband accidentaly let my dog out and the dog almost got run over, I told him if the dog were injured or killed through his action or inaction, I'd evict him. The dog has been carefully corralled ever since; he knows how strongly I feel about my dog.
Posted by: Sarah at April 21, 2005 06:23 PM