Wild video shows the moment sheriff’s deputies in Wisconsin helped rescue a very feisty bobcat that had gotten stuck in the grille of a parked Toyota sedan.
The unexpected animal encounter took place around 10 p.m. Tuesday, after the Portage County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from a motorist saying, “I have a bobcat in my car.”
Sheriff Mike Lukas wrote on Facebook that the call was “a first” for him, and that “numerous deputies were curious” after hearing of the stranded bobcat.
According to Lukas, the three officers who responded to the scene were in “shock” when they came face-to-muzzle with the furry intruder, with only a car grille separating them.
“My deputies are really good at solving problems but this one baffled them,” the sheriff explained, adding that the deputies summoned a conservation warden from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to help extricate the feline.
Body camera video released by Lukas shows Warden Bryan Lockman working with the deputies to safely remove the animal from the vehicle.
It was not immediately known how the bobcat ended up inside the front of the car, or how long it had been there before help arrived.
“That is a big paw,” one of the first responders could be heard saying in the video, as he looked at the trapped big cat.
The 2-minute video shows the conservation warden hooking the noose of a snare pole around the bobcat, and then wrenching it out of the car with one motion.
The hefty lynx is seen leaping into the air and landing in the bed of an awaiting pickup truck, which the responders quickly secure.
“It’s a big one, too,” one of them remarks, as the bobcat is heard scrambling inside the locked compartment.
Sheriff Lukas praised the warden for being a “pro” and returning the critter to the wild.
“All in a day’s work at the Portage County Sheriff’s Office and the Wisconsin DNR,” he concluded.