Police in Portage County, Wisconsin, on Tuesday night had to call in “reinforcements” — that would be Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources warden Bryan Lockman — after the car’s owner reported, “I have a bobcat in my car.”
Said county Sheriff Mike Lucas, “You can only imagine what everyone was thinking at the time, so when they dispatched over the radio numerous deputies were curious.” Three deputies responded to the location, he said, and were in “shock” to find the animal wedged behind the front grille of a Toyota.
“My deputies are really good at solving problems, but this one baffled them so we called in reinforcements,” Lukas said.
A video clip shows Lockman and an assistant coaxing the bobcat from behind the grille of the car with an animal control pole. The pole allows the creature to be held at a safe distance while being transported. The feline was placed in a truck — under protest, but uninjured — and would be released eventually.
It was unclear whether the bobcat had been struck by the car or if it had climbed into the front grille on its own. Of course house cats like to climb into warm engine bays, so maybe a bobcat does too? And it’s not uncommon for wildlife to be stuck on the road and trapped in grilles, such as this unfortunate owl, this unwily coyote, and yes, this other bobcat — all of which, thankfully, were freed of their predicament after taking long, terrifying rides.
However the cat got there, it was “all in a day’s work at the Portage County Sheriff’s Office,” Lucas said.
