THERESA, New York (WWNY) – “That was a surprise to me, and then it had rabies?”
David Martin is having lunch … and talking about what went through is mind when he first heard that a rabid bobcat was found in the area.
“The fact that a bobcat had picked it up?” asked Martin. “I hadn’t heard anything of that nature in years… matter of fact maybe never.”
The behavior of the bobcat, which entered a home and attacked two people last weekend, is very unusual, said Jefferson County Public Health Educator Lisa Lagos.
“You know normally a bobcat, if it’s healthy, their normal behavior is to run away from humans,” said Lagos. “They want to try to avoid people.”
She says for the county, it may be a first of its kind case.
“I’m not sure that we’ve ever submitted a bobcat for rabies testing in Jefferson County,” said Lagos. “As far as I know, we have not. So this is definitely unusual for us to see this, and not common at all.”
Bobcat attacks are rare. So rare in fact that this would be only the fifth one ever recorded in New York state. As far as rabies go, bobcats only make up 0.5 percent of the confirmed cases in the state.
But rabies cases have added up to thirteen so far this year, compared to ten cases last year. The other animals affected this year in Jefferson County include ten raccoons and two foxes.
Public health says the two people involved in the bobcat case are undergoing rabies treatment.
Copyright 2025 WWNY. All rights reserved.