Man attacked by bobcat looking to trap feline

A man who did battle with a bobcat Friday night in Hermantown hopes to have the bobcat trapped.

Gary Lucia, 52, said he has hired a trapper to trap the bobcat. The bobcat entered Lucia’s garage through an open door about 11 p.m. Friday and tried to go after the 11 ducks and one goose that Lucia keeps in the garage as pets. Lucia was in the garage working on his laptop computer at the time.

When the bobcat pinned some of the ducks in a corner, Lucia went after the bobcat. A skirmish ensued, during which Lucia was either clawed or bitten in the head, he told the News Tribune on Saturday. The incident lasted about 10 minutes. Eventually, the bobcat ran off.

Lucia said Monday he thinks a bobcat may be responsible for some neighbors’ pets that have gone missing in the area in the past.

"What happened to my ducks should be a red flag," Lucia said.

He has hired trapper Paul Zieroth of Saginaw, who has placed three snares on Lucia’s rural property. Zieroth placed the snares Saturday evening, Lucia said.

"I found some cat tracks," Zieroth said. "But I suspect the bobcat moved on. They’ve got a big home range."

Zieroth said he plans to leave the snares out for a couple of weeks, checking them regularly.

Lucia, who says he’s a vegetarian, keeps domestic ducks as pets. Zippy, the Canada goose he has, was rescued as a gosling, he said.

"I had to teach it to eat. Now I’m trying to teach it to fly, he said. "I run through the yard flapping my arms, saying, 'Fly, Zippy.'"

Lucia refused treatment for his head and facial wounds Friday night. He had scratches on his forehead, cheek, back of the head and back.

Tags: outdoors, news, animals, cats