Up close and personal with a bobcat in Kettle Valley

AMAZING PHOTO OF WILD CAT

KELOWNA – A close encounter with a bobcat has prompted a warning for people living in the Village of Kettle Valley in Kelowna.

A couple of neighbours spotted a bobcat dragging a house cat away Friday afternoon, Jan. 9, according to Kettle Valley president Stephen Wells.

“They ran at the bobcat and the bobcat dropped the house cat and it ran off,” Wells says. “The pet cat was found later unharmed and brought back into the owner’s house.”

When the house cat’s owner closed the garage door he heard a strange sound, “like a clicking or a dog half barking".

Sure enough, there was the bobcat in his garage. That’s when he took the picture with his iPhone through the glass window of the garage door.

The homeowner, who doesn’t want to be indentified, called Kelowna Animal Control and eventually spoke with a Conservation Officer who suggested since the house was so close to the wilderness he should just open the door and let it out.

So that’s what he did, Wells says.

Since then, other residents have also spotted the bobcat hanging around, so Wells is warning people to keep an eye on their cats, dogs or even small children.

There was even a sighting down the hill on Lakeshore Road. David Krysko says on Facebook he photographed a bobcat Friday night, Jan. 9, trying to get into his house.

The residents of Kettle Valley are voicing the opinion on social media that letting the bobcat go was the best scenario.

“We’re encroaching on his property too,” Wells says.

He says they see all kinds of wild animals in the area including coyotes, birds of prey, black bears and moose.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander at halexander@infonews.ca or call 250-491-0331. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.