Bobcat attack
Environmental police track and euthanize rabies-positive animal after it escapes club; 1 man suffers minor injuries
A bobcat jumped on a golfer at Mohegan Sun Golf Club in Baltic Thursday morning, prompting the members of his foursome to beat the animal with their clubs, police said. The cat, which earlier had attacked a horse, managed to escape before being tracked and euthanized.
A bobcat jumped on a golfer at a casino golf course Thursday morning, prompting the members of his foursome to beat the animal with their clubs, police said.
The cat — which earlier had attacked a horse — managed to escape before being tracked and euthanized by environmental police, said Sgt. Christopher Dwyer of the state Department of Energy & Environmental Protection police force.
The golfer was taken to William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich to be treated for minor injuries, said Travis Irons, operations manager of Quinebaug Valley Emergency Communications.
The bobcat tested positive for rabies, Dwyer said Thursday afternoon.
According to Dwyer, the bobcat slashed a horse’s neck and eye about 8 a.m. oneeighth of a mile from the golf course. The horse is expected to recover.
About a half-hour later, police received a report that a bobcat attacked a golfer at the Mohegan Sun Golf Club at 7 Dows Lane in the Baltic section of Sprague, he said.
The bobcat jumped on the man’s back, and his fellow golfers used their clubs to fight back, Dwyer said.
“They thought it was dead,” he said, but the bobcat got up and ran away.
The golfer, who is in his 60s, had cuts to his back and to the back of his legs, Dwyer said.
Environmental police responded and began tracking the bobcat, and one DEEP officer spotted its footprints. He found the animal, hissing, in a culvert and shot it, Dwyer said.
Bobcat attacks on humans are rare, Dwyer said. He knows of only four in the past 20 years. “We tell (people), ‘You are a 1,000 times more likely to get bitten by your neighbor’s dog,’ ” he said.
Still, people should remain vigilant in case there are others around. Anyone who sees one should stay away and use DEEP’s online reporting system to report it, he said.