When Wildlife Strikes
Imagine a nice day out with your wife/husband as you get prepped to leave the parking lot from your weekly afternoon stroll. You casually walk up to your car like everything is fine and then suddenly, a wild bobcat strikes out of thin air!
That’s what happened to a couple in North Carolina when one rabid bobcat decided to pounce on a fellow human. Kristi and Happy Wade were simply getting their things ready to enter their vehicle in their home’s driveway. All seemed normal and quiet until chaos struck from seemingly nowhere.
The wild beast grappled on Kristi’s back and tried to inflict damage on the poor woman.
Luckily, Happy Wade was quick on his feet and took action instantaneously. He immediately grabbed the attacking creature off his wife’s back and threw it with all his might against the ground in frustration.
“He saved my life,” Kristi Wade said. “I don’t know where I’d be or what sort of shape I’d be in right now had he not been there.”
Happy followed the bobcat where he later pulled out his firearm and delivered a deathblow to the pesky mammal’s life. After receiving tests, it was confirmed that the bobcat did in fact carry rabies. The couple did suffer from minor bites and scratches and were administered to the hospital to receive immunization booster shots.
The entire scene was captured by the couple’s camera at their home that is located in Pender County. It shows the moment everything flipped upside down for the unsuspecting couple.
“I knew it was a cat because I know what a cat sounds like, but it sounded like a very angry cat,” she said.
Happy Wade was incredibly brave for what he did.
His heroic act may have inflicted some wounds on his hands, but it was all instincts that propelled him to do something to protect his wife. He didn’t think twice about carrying the bobcat away from his wife’s back and repelling it as far away as possible.
“I could literally feel the tooth on my knuckle,” he said.
Wade does have a concealed carry permit, which gave him permission to use his weapon at his discretion. And he did without a second thought. As an animal lover, you hate to see these things happen. However, when you have a situation with a wild animal like this, sometimes having self-control is harder.
It was confirmed at the North Carolina state laboratory that the bobcat tested positive for rabies.
“I knew that it had to have something, and so I figured it was rabies,” Happy Wade said. “I knew it had already attacked two people — if it attacked someone else and I didn’t do something, morally it would’ve bothered me for a long time.”
The department then sent out a release statement notifying and reminding the public to please keep their pets vaccinated. Given that the feline had rabies, the situation could have been much, much worse.
This is just one of the harrowing experiences one can encounter when exposed to the elements. For better or worse, nature will always have your back no matter what.
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