Waterford's Big Bobcat

On Sunday, February 5 at 9:45 a.m., Linda Porter looked out the window of her house on 12 Springdale Road and couldn’t believe her eyes.

“I saw a bobcat,” she said.

Her husband, William Porter, rushed downstairs, grabbed his new camera and began snapping photos.

“The first thing I thought when I saw it was, ‘Wow’,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Porter took several photos through his basement sliding-glass door, but in his excitement he put the camera in the wrong mode, and the pictures came out blurry. He watched the bobcat, which Porter later judged was about 2 ½ feet tall and 4 ½ feet long, jump over his stonewall and into the woods.

“I was in my basement shooting photos,” Porter said. “I didn’t want to get too close to the thing.”

No Reason For Alarm

Porter sent the photos to , who put one on his Facebook page. The photo went viral, with more than 450 people sharing it on Facebook.

Many were concerned, Yuchniuk said. But the bobcat is no danger to humans, and is as much a danger to dogs and cats as coyotes are, he said.

“It isn't going to attack your kids at the bus stop, it isn’t going to eat your dog while you're walking down the street,” Yuchniuk said. “It might eat your dog or your cat if it is running free in the forest, but other animals will do that already. So I just advise pet owners to keep their cats in their house and their dog under control, like responsible pet owners should be doing anyway.”

Yuchniuk said he talked with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and they agreed they would leave the animal alone. The animal presents no imminent threat to humans, Yuchniuk said.

Conversely, humans should not go into the woods looking for the animal, he said. And if somebody tries to shoot the animal, they could be arrested, Yuchniuk said.

“There is no bobcat-hunting season,” he said. “The best advice I can give people is just to leave it alone.”