SWTPbobcat by Michael Lee Simpson
Onlookers were terrified as they watched a wild bobcat devour a rabbit – while pedestrians ignored warning to stay away.
Parker Dallas, 33, an equipment operator from Phoenix, captured the encounter in Scottsdale, Arizona, on video.
To his shock, the wild bobcat was carrying a dead rabbit in its mouth and undeterred by Parker’s presence, casually settled in for a meal 15 to 20 feet away from him as he operated a mini excavator.
“I looked out the side of my eye and saw what looked to be a big cat, and it scared the living crap out of me,” Park recalled.
“I took a better look, and this was all about 20 feet away from me.”
The unusual encounter lasted for about 10 minutes.
“There were people on the walking trail, walking right by,” he recalled.
“I was trying to get their attention to not walk two feet behind it, but nobody saw it when they walked by. It was pretty strange.
“I think the bobcat was a little too occupied to be worried about anybody else.”
Wildlife encounters like this aren’t uncommon in Scottsdale, where bobcats, coyotes, and other predators roam freely.
For locals, losing pets to wild animals is an unfortunate reality.
“If you’re going to move out here, you have to understand that that’s what you’re going to deal with,” he said.
Parker says the close-up encounter with the bobcat was “pretty cool” — even if it did give him a serious scare at first.
