Officers respond after woman finds wild predator sitting near her TV — here’s what happened

A bobcat found its way into a Colorado woman’s living room, according to CBS.

What’s happening?

A woman in Ken Caryl, a southwestern suburb of Denver_, came home to find a bobcat sitting on a shelf behind her TV. Police were called to the scene and tried to use the lasers mounted on their tasers to tease it out.

While unusual, similar encounters are not unheard of. A bobcat found its way into a school gym in Louisiana.

Why are wildlife encounters important?

Bobcats are the most common wild cat in America, but they are usually shy and elusive. As human habitation encroaches more on bobcat territory, encounters become more likely. Bobcats may even become conditioned enough by exposure to be comfortable approaching humans, as was the case in this recent incident.

Food incentives are the biggest factor in shifting wild animal behaviors. Experts have repeatedly warned nature lovers to not feed animals, specifically because it can lead to more dangerous wildlife encounters. Animals can become aggressive when expecting food or confronted by people. Bobcats can be violent, and their increasing comfort with human proximity poses a threat.

Bobcats were once hunted nearly to extinction and continue to be threatened by habitat destruction and the indiscriminate use of rodenticide. While tragic in its own right, threats to bobcats are bad news for humans, too. Bobcats help keep Lyme disease transmission down by hunting the mice that carry infected ticks, among other ecological services.

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What’s being done about wildlife encounters?

This bobcat eventually left the home on its own accord using an open back door.

TikTok commenters were amused by the police’s initial approach.

“The human instinct to go ‘here kitty kitty’ with a wild cat that could tear their throat out will never not amaze me,” one said.

“She was so done and the police officer was so excited,” another noticed.

“I rehab wildlife and feral cats, can confirm a bobcat will play with a laser if it is in fact bored enough so he’s onto something,” someone else wrote.

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