CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) – A Chula Vista homeowner was surprised when his security camera recorded a bobcat roaming in front of his house.
Jeff Mullin said he’s seen plenty of animals while living near Sunridge Park, but what his Ring camera captured earlier this week came as quite a shock.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen a bobcat on the Ring. We’ve had skunks and raccoons and coyotes,” Mullin told ABC 10News.
Mullin, who lives on Verano Drive, said he’s not too concerned with a bobcat on the prowl in his neighborhood because “they’re pretty scared-ish; I’m an outdoorsman, I’ve seen them in the wild and they run away when they see humans.”
In fact, Mullin believes the sighting is good for the area because bobcats prey on rodents and snakes.
“They’re part of the wildlife; the bobcats keep the rabbit population down, the rodent population down, which keeps the snake population down. It’s part of nature,” he said.
Wildlife expert Mackenzie Rich told ABC 10News that bobcat sightings in neighborhoods around canyons are more common than many think.
Rich recommends people not feed birds or pets outside because pet food attracts birds and squirrels, which are ideal prey for bobcats.
In the event you encounter a bobcat, Rich said, “You can just clap at it, yell at it, throw on a teacher voice and tell it to go away, and 9 out of 10 times the cat is going to respond and get out of there.”
She added, “So these animals are really not a threat to people. The best thing for you to do is just to back off and give that animal space to leave the area.”
Fish and Wildlife data shows there are about 6,000 dog bites on humans that are investigated in San Diego County annually, but very few cases of bobcat attacks.
