Bobcat seen prowling around Nashville neighborhood

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A security camera captured a bobcat prowling past the front doorsteps of a Forest Hills home Monday night.

The homeowner, who goes by Nick, set up the camera looking for armadillos on his property, but instead found a bobcat.

“I got the alert on my phone from the camera, looked at it thinking it would be an armadillo, and whoa, that’s a big cat,” Nick said. “I didn’t think they’d come right up to the front steps here.”

December is the beginning of mating season for bobcats, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, but it most likely entered the neighborhood looking for food.

The TWRA encourages Tennesseans to secure trash and pick up any pet food that may be outside your home. As communities in Middle Tennessee grow, urban wildlife will be more common, TWRA said.

Nick said when he saw the bobcat on his camera, he went outside to investigate and watched it leap on a retaining wall before scurrying off.

“He was just kind of sitting here looking out like a hawk would on a wire. I could see his head turning,” Nick said. “I only had, I think, the front porch lights on at the time, so I certainly didn’t think it would come that close.”

TWRA’s advice is if you come in contact with wildlife that doesn’t run when it sees you, try to scare it off because it’s healthy for that animal to have a natural fear of people.

Click for information about the bobcat in Tennessee.

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