Here kitty, kitty

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Tonnette Thompson
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Curled between an air conditioning compressor and a building wall, yellow eyes glaring at the Security Forces and Entomology personnel surrounding him, he flexed his paws, claws at the ready.

Suddenly a collar dropped down over his furry head, tightening around his neck, and he found himself at the end of a long pole securely held by kangaroo-hide gloved hands. Despite his hissing, snarling and struggling, his captor pulled him from behind the compressor and pushed him to the ground. One hand left the pole to clutch him by his hind legs, leaving him unable to either turn around or run.

Helpless now, he had no choice but to be pushed like a wheelbarrow, balancing on his front legs, toward the cage waiting for him.

So went the capture of a bobcat by Sheppard personnel on Wednesday. Straying from its usual locale in the wetlands behind the Sheppard dog kennels, the bobcat staked its hiding spot behind Bldg. 2012. A wildlife biologist with the United States Department of Agriculture - Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service captured the cat, chauffeuring it back to the wetlands for release.

"It was probably just out hunting for jackrabbits, and it didn't get back home before sunrise, so it was hiding from all the people," said Ted Pepps, the wildlife biologist, also with the 80th Flight Training Wing.

To make the catch, Mr. Pepps "snuck around the top of the compressor" while his prey was distracted by the cops. From there, he used a catch-pull to collar the cat and drag it from behind the building.

"I wasn't nervous about getting close to one at all. I've done this plenty of times; this is just my first time catching one at Sheppard," Mr. Pepps said.

"It was only a baby, about four months old," said Senior Airman Melynda Meshlovitz, a member of the 82nd Civil Engineer Squadron's Entomology Flight. "Still, it was about two to three times the size of your average pet cat."

Entomology and 82nd SFS personnel were called out to assist Mr. Pepps, who wasn't at all surprised by the nature of this task. In fact, people at Sheppard are probably in proximity to bobcats more often than they'd like to think.

"Bobcats are very good at hiding, so you may not notice one even if it's just a few feet away. Any thick vegetation is likely to have a bobcat in it, but like any cat, if it doesn't want to be seen, then it won't be seen," he said.

Still, Mr. Pepps insists that there's no cause for public alarm.

"People shouldn't be worried at all - bobcats are very adaptable to human environments, so attacks are very rare," he said.

The bobcat was estimated to have traveled a quarter mile from its wetland home.