Hunter was in a tree watching for deer — then two bobcats joined him, video shows
Cody Couch was watching a couple of bucks in his deer stand — up high in a tree — when he heard a sound from behind him, according to his Facebook post.
And when he looked to see what it was, the Oklahoma hunter saw three bobcats making “a little racket” behind him, Couch posted to Facebook on Sunday.
“The momma cat and the two young cats came down a trail below my treestand,” Couch told McClatchy in a Facebook message. “When I looked down to see what it was the momma cat jumped back a few steps when she (saw) me.”
The momma bobcat growled at Couch for a good 3 to 4 minutes, Couch said, but the two kittens weren’t nearly as timid.
Rather, they climbed up in the tree with the hunter in Mayes County.
The older cat ran off when Couch took his phone out to start recording, and she left the other two cats behind with him, Couch said.
While the two bobcats climbed around the tree, Couch recorded the “pretty cool” moment in the hunting stand. That was at about 9 a.m. Sunday in Chouteau.
The bobcats all left before Couch got down from the tree.
Throughout the wildlife encounter, Couch said he was only scared once.
“The momma growling had me startled, but once she left I was good with the situation,” he said.
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation shared Couch’s video and called the bobcats “two unexpected visitors.”
“For those who are fortunate enough to have seen one of Oklahoma’s wild felines, it is a special occurrence,” the state’s department says on its site. “These cats are very elusive and hard to spot, but they are spectacular to watch when you are lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one!”
They are most active during dusk and dawn, the department says, but they can be active at anytime. They usually prey on rodents, wild turkeys and ground-nesting birds.
This story was originally published October 23, 2018 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Hunter was in a tree watching for deer — then two bobcats joined him, video shows."