Mr. Spasm, with all due respect, I don't accept that reply. I grew up on the swamp and bayou. We had ALL kinds of wild creatures. If a gator or snake approached me, I would try to catch it! If I wanted it for its hide or meat, then I would shoot it. I did A LOT of that. Snake hides bring decent money. Gator meat is VERY tasty. Their hides make for very good money.
I guess me getting upset about the Wildcat being shot is, I look at it as a cat. And, I love cats. No disrespect towards you Sir.
Reptiles cannot get rabies because rabies is a disease that affects only warm-blooded animals. If a snake or gator approaches you, that's likley curiosity, protecting young, hunger or such driving it to the behavior.
When a wild warm-blooded animal (one that typically evades human contact) acts out of character for the species by approaching humans and acting "wierd", it's a very safe bet it's rabid. Rabid animals become very dilusional and agressive.
Bobcats are wild and generally VERY elusive. They are not small (relative to a house cat) and have a lot of potential to harm a person with an attack, and rabies driving that behavior is a darn good reason to shoot it. As explained by others, shooting it makes sense for these reasons:
- it's a humane end to an otherwise horrible slow, continued death; no animal with untreated rabies is going to survie - you're doing it a favor by shooting it
- it allows for recovery of the animal corpse to confirm diagnosis; this allows accurate treatment of any infected other animals (pets, humans)
- it stops that individual animal cycle from infecting other wild animals
Sometimes, death makes sense, like it or not.
As for drunk animals, that does happen to 'coons, birds, squirrels, deer, etc. But a drunk 'coon doesn't act in the same manner as a rabid 'coon. Drunk animals are rarely agressive; rabid ones are nearly always agressive. Rabid animals foam at the mouth in advanced stages; drunk animals may drool, but don't froth. Drunk animals still exhibit their natural tendencies, albiet with the typical physical challenges; rabid animals will act out of character for the species. In my LEO career, I've had to dispatch a variety of animals for a variety of reasons, including rabid behavior. It's not that hard to discern a rabid one from a drunk one.