Husband ko's bobcat ...

[North Pack]

Husband bats bobcat for home run; .... (Western Mass.)
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By Frank Sousa
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February 06, 2010, 5:01PM
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Today is doubleheader day.

In the first game it was a hit that luckily made an out!

The second game is a preliminary report on the past deer season harvest.

Kelly Bassett was sitting in her Montgomery home at the stroke of midnight when “WHAM,” something hit their window.

Howard, their 19-pound dachshund with the heart of a lion charged the window, where it was greeted by a large bobcat snarling and scratching at him through the glass.

Kelly woke up her husband, Scott.

The bobcat commenced to attack Howard’s doggy bed on the porch, attack the garbage can, and then go to their car and chew on the tires.

She pressed the panic button on her key chain, setting off the car alarm, but it did not faze the wild animal.

Kelly called 911, while Scott grabbed a softball bat and ventured outside.

Meanwhile, Phil Camp, the town animal officer, who was driving a snowplow in a snowstorm, (small towns have many double-duty persons,) appeared on the scene.

As the two men located the cat by its various attacks on inanimate objects, it apparently got bored with trash cans, doggy beds and truck tires, it crouched and attacked them.

Scott, a former softball player, swung his wife’s bat (she still plays ball) and caught the animal in mid-air.

It was down and “You’re out!”

The animal went 33 pounds and was determined to be rabid by medical personnel.

Kelly expressed hope that the animal officer can carry a weapon while serving as a snow plow worker, even if it is a bat.

[gamo2hammerli]

Hmmm....suddenly my "bb" guns don`t seem so powerful.  Thanks for the article.

[dk1677]

Some story! This happen in my area in 2008;  A Whitestown resident, her daughter, and the Chief of Police are all recovering from an attack by a rabid fox on Friday.


   

   



That's why an attack by any animal thought to be rabid is taken very seriously, and those that experience such an attack say it is unlike anything else.

"I walked over to the end of the porch, picked up a pair of shoes...and he jumped out of the bushes and over the railing and that is where he attacked me," said Sariann Lachut, of Whitestown, describing the moment a rabid fox bit her on Friday.

"His jaws were locked on my foot," Lachut said.

She fought him off before he again bit her hand, his jaws tightly locked.

"At that point I thought he had bitten my finger off, and I screamed," she said.

That's when her daughter heard her scream, and pulled the animals jaws open, freeing her mom.

Together they subdued the animal. Thinking it was dead, they went inside, and called the police.

But when they arrived, the fox was no-where to be found...until...

"Just out of the corner of my eye, I saw something come out and literally it just jumped right on my leg and bit me," said Whitestown Police Chief Donald Wolanin.

Chief Wolanin was able to hit the animal with a shovel, killing it. From there, the fox's remains were sent to Albany for testing. The results - rabid.

Lachut, her daughter, and Wolanin have all received Round One of a series of shots to prevent rabies from becoming active in their systems.

All parties are expressing shock over what happened, but keeping a positive attitude.

"It is a dangerous job out there, but there are a lot more dangerous things than a fox you would think," Chief Wolanin said,

"I was scared to death," Lachut said. "The pain was pretty good too."

And as a reminder of the days events, Lachut is left with a bandaged foot and hand.

As for Chief Wolanin, ironically it is not the bite that is the source of pain. The Chief's other leg is heavily bruised in the attack.

Officials tell us that although rabid attacks get a lot of attention they are rare.

If you think an animal is rabid, don't try to catch it - call your local authorities.

[North Pack]

Back when I lived in rural Maine, - there was a large fox population, bingo, rabies broke out. I ended up shooting two, in less than a month. One on the boundary of my land with a neighbor and one while hiking. A third one that was rabid for sure, was sitting in the middle of a road, just outside of town, and was staring at any cars/trucks going by. That one was in bad shape, and probably didn't make it thru another day. - I ALWAYS carry a .357 mag when hiking/snowshoeing ... not likely it'll be needed - but ya' never "really know".

[Bogey]

This is an interesting storey.    It should give those of us that frequent the outdoors the heads up that Rabies can occur all year long.  And we should be alert for any animal that is acting strangely.

Down here in the South, we tend to think Rabies is a Summer event.    Not so.   This incident occured in Febuary.   If it can happen in the North East , in Febuary , it can happen anywhere.