A La Cañada Flintridge man captured video of a California bobcat lurking around his backyard Thursday.
The resident, whose home is near NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the foothills of the Verdugo Mountains, told KTLA that he wondered why the family’s dog, a vigilant miniature Australian shepherd named Oreo, had spent the last hour inside the house barking at the backyard.
Ever since a too-close-for-comfort call with a coyote in their backyard years ago, Oreo is never left in the backyard on her own.
Once she was secured, the resident stepped out the door and spotted the wildcat jumping over a small retaining wall onto the backyard’s sloping hillside before stopping at a safe distance, turning around and having a good look at the resident himself, all while its signature bobbed tail bounced back and forth.
It’s not entirely uncommon, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, to spot the muscular, small to medium-sized cats during the day, though they are typically elusive, solitary and most active at night and in the twilight hours.
Weighing between 12 and 25 pounds, a quarter of the size of mountain lions, they feed on deer fawns, racoons, porcupines, rabbits, rodents, reptiles and other animals, as well as some plant material.
“Bobcats will stalk or ambush their prey from the ground, trees, logs or rocks,” CDFW’s website states.
Native to habitats throughout the state, they are not generally considered a threat to public safety but can pose a risk to family pets and small livestock that are not secured at night.
A ban on hunting the animals went into effect in Jan. 2020.
After the La Cañada bobcat, which appeared to be a male, got a good look at his human neighbor, he all but sauntered up the hillside, eventually disappearing behind some shrubbery though not before the resident is heard with a genial “What’s up, bobcat?”
Full disclosure, this writer has personally met Oreo and knows she’s a very good girl.
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