A golfer was sent to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries after a rabid bobcat jumped on his back, prompting other members of the foursome to use their golf clubs to beat back the animal.
The incident at the Mohegan Sun Golf Club in the Baltic section of Sprague, Conn., occurred around 8:30 Thursday morning, about 30 minutes after the same bobcat attacked a horse nearby, according to a news release from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Sgt. Christopher Dwyer of DEEP told the Hartford Courant the unidentified golfer suffered cuts to his back and to the back of his legs, and was taken to William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich.
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The bobcat apparently surprised the golfers by getting up and running away after they beat the animal.
“They thought it was dead,” Dwyer told the Hartford Courant.
Environmental police tracked down the hissing bobcat in a nearby culvert and shot it, Dwyer said. The animal was transported to UConn Medical Lab where it tested positive for rabies.
The horse sustained neck and eye injuries, NBC Connecticut reported. Loree Osowski of Baltic told NBC that she ran and got a shovel and threw it at the bobcat to scare it away. The horse was bleeding from the eye and ear, requiring 14 stitches.
Dwyer told NBC the bobcat tried attacking a woman as well.
Bobcats are said to be secretive animals and attacks on humans are extremely rare, DEEP said.
“We tell [people], ‘You are a thousand times more likely to get bitten by your neighbor’s dog,’” Dwyer told the Hartford Currant.
Generic bobcat photo courtesy of Sam Greenwood/Getty Images.
