Woman, 90, Grabs Bobcat's Tail to Free Cat

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WYMAN TOWNSHIP, Maine - A 90-year-old woman grabbed a bobcat by the tail to free her beloved pet cat from the wildcat's mouth. Mildred Luce, who lives alone, said the action began one recent day when she looked outside her window and saw the bobcat lying on its side with the head of her 20-year-old cat, Smudge, in its mouth.



Luce ran out the door, grabbed an aluminum snow shovel and pushed it down on the bobcat's neck. But it held on tight.



"Then I took hold of its head with my hand and pulled on its tail, and Smudge popped out," she said.



Smudge hightailed into the house with the bobcat hot on her heels. Once inside, the wildcat calmed down and appeared more bewildered than aggressive, Luce said, wandering from room to room before walking into the bathroom.



A neighbor whom Luce had called for help secured the door until Warden Mark Rollins arrived and snared the animal as it hid behind a shower curtain.



Luce was upset by the episode, even more so because her other cat, 5-year-old Foxy, had been mauled the night before and died two days later.



But Luce never had a second thought about coming to the rescue of Smudge, who is still on the mend.



"I had no fear of it — I was just interested in saving Smudge," she said.

The bobcat was killed so it could be tested for rabies, and the results were negative.