ATHENS, Ga. — An "aggressive" bobcat reportedly attacked children in the Athens area over the weekend, with the Oglethorpe County Fire & Rescue department warning families to stay aware.
The department posted on Facebook that the attack occurred around 6:30 p.m. on Friday in the area of Melton Road and Williams McCurley Road in Winterville.
"If you live in that area, we ask you to be mindful of your surroundings and to please keep a close eye on your children when they are outside," the post stated. "The Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Public Health, as well as Oglethorpe County Sheriff's Office and Oglethorpe County EMS have all been notified."
The post did not indicate there were any serious injuries to the children. The department did respond to one comment made by a woman who said her granddaughter was at the scene, calling it a "horrible, terrifying ordeal" but thanking the first responders who she said showed up in minutes and were "amazing."
Generally, according to the Human Society of the United States, bobcats are not often very aggressive with humans, and can "easily be scared away by making loud noises such as yelling or blowing whistles, dousing them with water hoses or squirt guns or throwing objects such as tennis balls toward them."
The Humane Society adds: "You can teach an overly bold bobcat to be wary of people by using negative conditioning or 'hazing.' To do that, be big and scary: Raise your arms over your head, yell or blow a whistle and bang metal pot tops together as you move toward the animal or spray the animal’s hindquarters with a hose or water gun. Hazing works best if you keep the negative reinforcement going until you deter the bobcat from the property."
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