Oh, how scary for you and your pups, Maureen. I'm glad you all got inside safely. It's a good thing you have a fence. I don't think he was about to leave his meal unguarded while he climbed the fence after your precious little ones.

Even through the fright, you have to marvel at the beauty of mother nature and her creatures and the circle of life. You are lucky to live in an area where you can still experience your incredible birds (that most of us dont have and wish we did), and amazing wildlife that has become extinct in so many of our neighborhoods. A flashlight at night is probably a good idea, though!

Anna

shudder! I am thinking of all the old Daniel Boone shows and the wild cat attacks.I am sure the fact that it was night was even scarier.We are indeed encroaching on their habitat. My son just had a $4,000 run in with a wild boar and his brand new SAAB!

I am so glad you and your fur babies made it inside safely. I have a 12 lb male bishon and know how fiesty they can be. I have to watch him carefully since we are on a canal and the gators would think him a nice snack.

What Anna said. However dangerous, bobcats are beautiful felines. Yesterday I read an interesting (and sad) article in a newspaper from Big Cat Rescue about four bobcats they saved recently...So sad to read about the hardships some of these animals have to go through because of our never ending expansion and the destruction of wildlife habitat.

I am glad to hear your fur balls are ok :)

Olya

I agree with Olya that bobcats are one of our most beautiful native creatures. Fierce, for sure, but they seldom ever go near humans, unless there is something wrong with them. Sadly, your frightening encounter is the result of the poor cats needing to wander farther and farther in search of prey, Maureen. I would have been afraid for my dog, too, but oh, how I would love to see a bobcat again. In all my wanderings and canoe trips, I have only ever managed to spot ONE, and it was running away as fast as it could go.

I don't even mind seeing them with their kill, as long as their dinner doesn't include Potter! You are right to watch your little dogs carefully, though I think bobcats would prefer rabbits to bichons. Still, a small dog is no match for an angry or hungry bobcat.

But what a wonderful place you live to have so many fantastic wild animals and birds to enjoy. Hope you will be able to calm down a bit and think back on the wonder of it, rather than the uglier aspect.

Marcia

Even though your yard is fenced in, I guess I'd keep my dogs on a long leash at night so I could "reel" them in fast if I had to.

That's a good idea, Barb. Maureen, that way, you'd feel in control and able to protect your dogs from any predator. Even a raccoon is something you wouldn't want your little ones to tangle with, and if they are anything like Potter, they would TRY to take one on. Potter has no idea how little he is! (12 pounds)

I think a leash at night would be a good, safe way to go, and you can rest assured that any wildlife out there will head the other way when a human appears. At least 99.9% of the time, anyway.

Marcia

I also have been "owned" by a male bichon and many's the time he tried to take on other dogs that outweighed him by 10 times. They are macho dogs for their size.(Or maybe he was just plain dumb.)

He's the one who fell into the pond here and then the alligator kept watch for another chance.

It's a tough question isn't it: where do the animals live when humans expand their homesteads?

Iris (my little bichon) has been on a leash at night since this incident. She hates it, but so it goes. My older buddy is blind and never wanders more than a couple of feet from me, so I feel safe having him outside without a leash.

Marcia - maybe someday I'll think of this experience as a wonder, but right now I'm still in the "holy smokies, that thing was UGLY and MEAN" mode. :-) That said, I do love this place and wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

Expanding homesites infringe horribly on the wildlife and it's very sad to see. Fortunately, in this area, construction of new houses has pretty much died out because of the depressed housing market. So the critters are safe for now.

Maureen

On seeing beauty in the depressed housing market

Here is a link that might be useful: wildlife strikes back

How scary for you!!!

I've only seen Bobcats on my drives to work, out in the raw areas along Seminole-Pratt-Whitney road. They don't look so bad when viewed from a 1 ton van(G). I feel lucky to see wildlife nearly daily, but they unfortunately get killed/injured by getting on the road. I've seen Deer, Otters, Hogs, Foxes, Coyotes, and many birds.

*Any* feline is scary to me. They are armed at all corners, and are unpredictable. I'll happily work with a 100+ lb mean dog, over an 8 lb cat, any day! Housecats, bobcats and larger, are really nasty when irritated! Cat bites and scratches are incredibly painful, and get infected easily. The claws/teeth are filthy! You had reason to be careful!

My property is so well-protected.. I'm lucky. I have 2 Cockatiels that scream alarms, a incredibly tough Silver Leghorn Rooster, a 12 lb Jack Russell Terrorist, and 5 Mastiffs. Intruders are noticed, chased, nose-punched, drooled on, and often killed.

The mailman escapes daily, much to the frustration of 180 lb "Ruby" who puts on a great act!

A flashlight, pepper spray, or a noisy stun gun, are good to carry if your property has wild company. The stun gun makes a scary noise and light (for scaring only, must be touched to a person/animal to stun), pepper spray is only effective up close.

A paintball gun is an option. No harm, but a loud noise and a colorful marker on the aggresive animal. Good for loose dogs too..

Lisa

Maureen, you will remember this experience for a long time and
eventually it will be fond memories.
Some of my fond memories;
1) Two bob cats running by me one on my right the other on my left in our car porch.
2) A Florida Cougar jumped onto the roof of our home. We could hear its foots steps, not knowing what it was until we saw him, through a window, jump to the ground.
3)Armadillo charging toward me while I ran for my life.
4) My wife,Syl, sweeping by the front door while an
Indigo snake slither into the house and She swept him out.
5) A wild Boar charging toward Some of my friends and I while hunting for rabbits at night and all of us tough guys
running up the trees.
6)My friends and I frog gigging, One of the guys puts a baby gator in our boat, then the momma gator got angry and started to beat on the boat.
I love Florida!!
Felix

Oh, Felix! What adventures! The most dangerous thing on your list, though, was definitely the wild hog! They can be mean and aggressive when threatened (and they perceive LOTS of things as threats).

Mama gators will definitely defend their young, especially if the baby gator is calling. I wouldn't mess with them, either. Your friend has a wicked sense of humor! Glad it ended well.

And I have an image of you running from the "charging" armadillo! Hahahaha! You DO know they are almost blind and couldn't find you on a bet, doncha? The only way you can really get hurt by one is if you are leaning over one and it jumps straight up like they do when startled. They could knock you out cold the way they leap up. I say, bobcats, good! Indigo snake, good. Armadillo, good. Florida panther, very, VERY good! Wild hogs and angry mama gators, NOT so good. Run away...run awaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!

Marcia (still laughing)

Oh gosh Felix, thank you so much for letting me know what I have to look forward to :o

I love Florida too - it's never dull around here.

Maureen

I love your stories, too, Felix...there's got to be a book in there somewhere. I know I'd read it!

Maureen, I am glad you and the furbabies are safe after your encounter with the bobcat. I did get a chance to watch one for about 20 minutes this fall in the forest until he winded me and then slowly slunk away. I was struck by his grace and wild beauty. My next encounter of the wild kind was about a month ago, also in the forest, with a mother bear and two cubs. The wind was in our faces so the mother bear didn't smell or notice us until she was about 50 yards away. When she did finally recognize us she hurried away with her cubs following. My latest encounter was three nights ago in the early evening when Dave and I were sitting on our couch watching TV. We heard a loud crash outside the window behind the couch. I stepped out on the back screened porch and flipped the lights on. About 5 feet away from the porch was a bear with my bottle of fish emulsion in his mouth. It was hard to say who was more surprized, me or the bear! About this time Rosie, the wonder dog, decided to join me on the porch. She spotted the bear and let out her best hound dog bark and the bear took off! Unfortunately he didn't see the fence and hit it going full stride! The bear bounced back into the yard and rolled before gaining his feet and going over the fence this time! I now have a 4 foot fence that is only 2 feet tall and am short one bottle of fish emulsion! The reason I tell you these stories is because I wanted to show that most wild animals, given the chance, will flee before fighting. They know we humans are bad news and would just as soon avoid us if they can.
I agree with Felix, some day your encounter with the bobcat will be a fond memory. Most people who live in Florida have never seen a bobcat and probably never will. That makes your encounter special, tho no less frightening!

nova

DO watch out for the dogs - if they get in a tussle with the bobcat and survive, they still might be done in by rabies or some other disease. My dad worked at a vet's office for years, and is an avid hunter that spends lots of time in the woods: he says the animals you can SEE are usually the ones driven out of better (farther from humans) territories by injuries or diseases that make them less able to keep themselves fed. By the time they're desperate enough to be taking dogs out of suburban backyards, they might be really dangerous.

These are all great stories! I too am concerned about my Shelties chasing raccoons because of the possibility of injury and rabies, so I watch them closely at night when we are walking. They are very well behaved and normally walk off the leash - but I usually spot the 'coons before they do and put them on the leash before anything happens. But we've had a couple run-ins with armadillos. The funniest was the night Sarah the Princess Dog surprised an armadillo and his True Love at a very private moment. She chased them both into the shrubbery, then seconds later came running out with the male 'dillo in hot pursuit. I still don't know if he was getting her out of the way or if he had switched his affections. I do know that she ran all the way home!

We've never encountered a bobcat or a lynx but I would love to see one... just not when I'm with the dogs.

Kate