Bobcat Discovered Inside Front Grill Of Car In Portage County

PORTAGE COUNTY, WI — A bobcat in Portage County recently decided to take up residence in the front grill of a car, much to the surprise of the vehicle's owner and the officials called in to get the creature out.

A dispatcher in the county got a call putting it simply: "I have a bobcat in my car." So, three Portage County deputies responded and found the creature residing inside the seemingly small space behind the grill, according to a statement posted to Facebook Wednesday by Sheriff Mike Lukas.

"As you can imagine the shock they were in when low and behold there was a bobcat in the vehicle," Lukas wrote on Facebook. "My deputies are really good at solving problems but this one baffled them so we called in reinforcements with Conservation Warden Bryan Lockman. As you can see on the bodycam footage Warden Lockman was a pro at getting the critter out and in his truck and returned it to the wild."

The sheriff posted body camera footage of deputies and the warden wrestling the large cat out of the small space in the front of the car. The creature's true size is revealed as it tries to lunge when it is removed, though a pole restricts it from harming anyone as responders transfer it to the covered bed of a nearby pickup truck, the footage showed.

"We let it go close by and it ran back in the wild," Lukas told Patch in a statement.

Bobcats in Wisconsin are among the most-seen members of cat family, though they remain uncommon beyond northern parts of the state, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The creatures often weigh around 20-30 pounds and feed on rabbits, small mammals and deer, according to the DNR.

Check out the full video of the bobcat being removed at Lukas's Facebook post.