Rabid bobcat attacks two hikers
By Gabrielle Fimbres, Tucson Citizen
TUCSON - The two University of Arizona scientists first spotted the eyes.
It was a bobcat, staring at Katrina Mangin and Rich Thompson as they hiked Saturday through one of their favorite spots in the Santa Rita Mountains, south of Gardner Canyon.
Thompson, 46, immediately knew he and his wife were in trouble.
“Rabid bobcat!” Thompson, a geologist, shouted to Mangin, a 54-year-old marine biologist. “Watch out!”
The next 10 minutes, the couple fought off the bobcat before Thompson pinned it to the ground with a stick and killed it with a hammer from his backpack.
Tests later determined the animal was rabid.
“It wasn’t hard to figure out that there was no choice but to fight it to the death because it was so persistent,” he said. “It’s very sad. This poor kitty cat was deranged by its disease-riddled brain. I love the native cats. It was terrible to have to kill it.” … [more]