Norwood Animal Control Officers Briana Hernandez and Henry CerqueiraPhoto: Suzanne Sausville/WBZ NewsRadio
NORWOOD, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Bobcat sightings have been popping up in Westwood and Norwood recently.
Norwood Animal Control officers Henry Cerqueira and Briana Hernandez have noticed this spike in sightings as the felines turn up frequently in unusual locations.
“We do have them here in Massachusetts in the western and middle part of the state, but now it seems like they’re coming out towards here,” Henry said.
“Thursday we got a sighting at a toddler playground here in Norwood,” Briana said.
The officers hypothesized that food was the major reason for bobcats to move into these new areas.
“Leaving food outside attracts more predators,” Briana said.
“All these animals learning to survive in suburbia, they have more of a food source in suburbia then they actually have in their rural area,” Henry said.
Along with not leaving food outside, the officers suggested that people put their bird feeders away, as the small animals drawn to the feed could attract bobcats.
They also reminded people to not leave their small children or pets outside.
If someone thinks they have potentially encountered a bobcat, Cerqueira says that they have bobbed tails, tufts on their ears and are twice as big as your average house cat.
He suggested the safest way to approach the cat, a method that differs a bit from dealing with other wild animals.
“Coyotes, foxes, I recommend that people make noise and try to scare them away, if you run into a bobcat, just talk calmly and walk away,” Henry said. “You don’t want to turn their back on them, and you actually want to talk to let them know you’re there, that you’re not trying to sneak up on them, and then just slowly walk away from them.”
WBZ NewsRadio's Suzanne Sausville (@WBZSausville) reports.