Bobcat vs. deer: Trail camera captures intense encounter in Flagler Beach
FLAGLER BEACH, Fla. - A Flagler Beach homeowner's trail camera captured an intense, yet swift, moment between a bobcat and a deer, and it's one of the best videos you'll see this week.
It begins with the bobcat getting itself as close to the ground as possible, ready to stalk its would-be prey. Then, seconds later, a deer pops up into the frame. The bobcat pounces and the deer headbutts it in return.
"To see [the bobcat] pounce at that deer and the reaction and get it all caught on camera was pretty wild," Matt Hathaway said Tuesday. "It's two seconds. It's instant fast."
He owns the trail camera that captured the wild encounter he'd never witnessed.
"We've got a lot of wildlife video over the years, but nothing like that," he said. "I don't think this bobcat is going to try to attack a deer. And sure enough, he did."
According to Gatorland's animal care director, Danielle Lucas, these encounters happen more often than we think.
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"[Bobcats] typically go for birds, rabbits, rats, things like that. But if the opportunity presents itself, it generally would be a younger deer. But that looked to be probably about a 120-pound female deer," she said.
This explains the bobcat's reaction.
"Mid-jump, he was like, 'Oh, whoa. That's way bigger than I thought it was,'" Lucas said.
The video shows the two animals going their separate ways into the night. But had the bobcat put in a little more effort, it would likely have been feasting for days.
"That would probably last him quite some time. He'd probably eat what he wanted. Maybe she. If it was a girl, maybe she had cubs or kittens somewhere and cashed the rest and maybe came back later and feasted on it for the rest of the week," Lucas said.