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An 82-year-old man was out turkey hunting on his property in Wilcox County, Alabama when the hunter was attacked by a bobcat. The “giant bobcat” ambushed him with such force that he thought he had been hit in the back of the head by a baseball bat.
Claude Strother says he was feeling restless on Friday, April 18th so he went out turkey hunting on his Alabama property while his wife was away. As the evening wore on, Claude was using his turkey call to try and lure in a bird when the “giant bobcat” pounced and struck him in the back of the head, leaving him bloodied and injured but able to walk away from the incident.
A video shared by Claude’s daughter on Facebook where he recounts bobcat attack went viral and his story was later picked up by national media. In the video, the 82-year-old turkey hunter says the bobcat “was big, it was a monster.” He added that it “hit behind my head, my whole head was sore. It has finally quit hurting. And its claws hit right above my eyes.”
In a second video, the damage from immediately after the bobcat attack can be seen with blood running down the 82-year-old Alabama man’s face.
After surviving the vicious bobcat attack, the 82-year-old Claude Strother morphed into the ‘And F—– I’ll Do It Again’ Goofy meme. He said that he returned to the exact same spot the very next morning to go turkey hunting again.
Claude told Fox News affiliate WALA that he “set the perfect storm for it. There I was, perfectly camouflaged in a gap, and all he could see was my head, and all of a sudden I was knocked over, and I turned and reached back.” He added that doesn’t “blame him at all. I have no grudge against that bobcat, I wouldn’t have shot him if he let me.”
The Alabama native says that he has hunted in 18 different U.S. states and Mexico but he believes that Alabama is home to the most challenging turkeys to hunt in all the land.
Bobcat Attacks On Humans Are Exceedingly Rare
Bobcat attacks on humans are so rare that nearly all attacks are chalked up to animals that are infected with rabies, according to Arizona Game and Fish. Presumably, he was checked (and cleared) for rabies by doctors after the attack and was treated accordingly.
When bobcats are seen by humans it is most often due to them being lured in by available prey (squirrels, rabbits, birds, etc). We cannot know for sure, but it seems likely that in this instance the bobcat mistook the 82-year-old Alabama hunter for an actual turkey because he was using his turkey call and the “giant bobcat” attack from behind, unable to see that it was a person and he was, of course, wearing camouflage.
They are incredible jumpers so even 6+ foot fences don’t keep bobcats out. Similar to preventing mountain lion attacks, experts suggest you make yourself look as big/tall/scary as possible if you feel threatened by a bobcat and this will likely scare it off. These gorgeous wild cats also get pretty big in the wild, weighing up to 30-pounds and measuring 50 inches long.
Bobcats are found in every state in the continental United States as well as south into Mexico and north into Canada. They are a common fixture from coast to coast, border to border. Even still, we rarely see them. I saw one on the golf course 3 weeks ago and it was the first one I’d seen in about a year. All of that is to say, they are often lurking but masters are not being seen and they prefer it that way.