Prescott Valley police and a state wildlife officer were able to track and kill a potentially rabid bobcat Wednesday after it attacked two people in Prescott Valley. Officials hope it was the same bobcat that attacked a dog about an hour earlier, especially since it had blood on it before the second attack. It was the latest in a string of odd rabid wild mammal attacks against people in northern Arizona in recent months.
“People should really keep their eyes open and be careful if they’re hiking outdoors and take precautions to protect themselves, especially if they see a wild animal,” Arizona Game and Fish Department Wildlife Manager Scott Poppenberger said.
State lab officials said they will test the bobcat today for rabies, related Zen Mocarski of the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
The dog attack occurred in a PV yard near Lynx Creek at about 3 p.m., Poppenberger said. The dog’s caretaker was able to break up the fight and get the dog indoors before calling for help.
Poppenberger was investigating that attack when another bobcat attack call came in at about 3:50 p.m. from about a mile downstream.
Christina Montonati, 13, said she was having fun with her mother and two sisters at a rope swing along Lynx Creek near Stoneridge Drive when the bobcat lunged at her, scratching and biting her lower right leg.
Her mother Lisa grabbed the full-grown, 40-pound male bobcat by the neck as it rolled over and bit her on both arms.
“I started screaming and I threw rocks at its face,” said Christina’s sister Talisa, who called 911 as the bobcat ran off.
Poppenberger and PV police found the bobcat within 10 minutes, and it continued to be abnormally aggressive.
“It came after the two officers and fortunately they were able to euthanize it,” Poppenberger said.
The mother and daughter received treatment at Yavapai Regional Medical Center East, and will have to get rabies shots if tests show the bobcat was rabid. So will the dog.
The latest attack comes on the heels of another bobcat attack at several businesses in Cottonwood on March 24.
Two foxes attacked hikers in the Granite Mountain Recreation Area just west of Prescott in November and February. One man beat a fox to death with his walking stick, while a female victim had to jog about a mile back to her vehicle with the fox’s jaws latched onto her arm before forcing it into her vehicle’s trunk. That was a strange enough incident to get her a spot on the David Letterman show.
In neighboring Coconino County, people have come across nine rabid foxes in the Flagstaff area since November, with another two in the Sedona area. Most recently, a fox on Mt. Elden near Flagstaff tried to attack three people and their pets.
Those incidents led the Coconino County Board of Supervisors to institute a three-month-long rabies quarantine and vaccination baiting program April 4.
The state recorded a record 176 rabid animals last year, with 11 in Yavapai County. More than half of the animals (89) were bats.
Arizona Department of Health Services officials say they’re on track to set another record this year. At least 48 cases are confirmed so far, with four in Yavapai County.
State Veterinarian Elisabeth Lawaczeck attributes the record-breaking numbers to at least two factors: an increasing human population and the cyclical nature of rabies.