FAIRBURN, Ga. — A local gas station had to be taped off to customers after an injured bobcat crawled into a corner Thursday morning.
Fairburn police say a woman hit the wild animal around 7 a.m. while she was driving down Highway 74. She pulled over at a BP gas station near Oakley Industrial Boulevard and saw the bobcat in the car's grille.
"So when I got into the BP parking lot, everyone was like, ‘Oh my God. What is that,’ you know? And I was just sitting there I was like, ‘I don't know! I hit it!’" said driver Shameika Allison.
After a few minutes, the bobcat squirmed out of the grille and dragged itself to the entryway of the convenience store and sat for about two hours, before an animal trapper arrived.
Police cleared the parking lot of customers, fearing that the animal might attack. The trapper, who says he's caught only one bobcat before, cornered the animal by the ice machine. It reared up and he hooked it with a snare and caged it.
According to Noah's Ark Critter Catcher, the bobcat had significant leg and pelvis injuries. The animal was on its way to their facility to be euthanized, but died of its injuries shortly after being caged.
- Channel 2's Rikki Klaus is talking to the trapper about capturing the animal for Channel 2 Action News starting at 4.