PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A man caught a bobcat on video in a neighborhood in Washington County.
David Mayeri, who posted two videos of the animal on Nextdoor, said he spotted the possibly injured bobcat in North Bethany on Saturday, Feb. 12. Videos show the medium-sized cat with a limp paw.
Currently, his post has 39 comments and close to 100 reactions on the neighborhood app.
“We were watching it and walked up our driveway (and) across the street to our neighbors,” said Mayeri. His neighbors own ducks and chickens.
He added, “We thought he has gone but then he reappeared up by the ducks. He was just sitting there.”
Michelle Dennehy, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, confirmed that there was a report of an injured bobcat in that area at the time of Mayeri’s post.
“The bobcat does appear to be limping, but our advice is to just leave it be,” Dennehy said. “It looks to be moving around just fine and should still be able meet its basic needs for survival.”
If the landowner is concerned about bobcat depredating livestock, she said, ODFW recommends fencing or sheltering livestock at night, and that ODFW will tell landowners this when it contacts them. The agency also suggests for pets and people to stay away when a bobcat is present; it should move on if there are no attractants.
Mayeri echoed ODFW’s sentiments, adding, “Sometimes they walk pretty close to us, and we leave them alone. They leave us alone.”
However, he said that the bobcats sometimes eat their chickens or baby goats.
“We see it as it’s our job to protect our animals from the bobcat, but we can’t hurt the bobcat. So, we have to build a strong enough pen,” he said.
For more information on bobcats in the area, click here.