Bobcat in the Barn!

Two Goats Attacked

By Sandy Cooch

Lest we forget: It’s a wild world out there.

Wildness, in the form of a 30-pound female bobcat, entered a Stockbridge barn at 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning, leapt over a 54-inch-high door, landing in a box stall housing four pygmy goats.

According to Karen Rogers, her husband, who was outside starting a car, "heard hollering" in the barn. The barn door had been opened a little earlier to let the daylight in, Rogers said

Adam Rogers dashed into the barn, saw the tawny cat attacking two of the goats, a female and her six-month old kid, and sprinted to the house to get his gun.

He succeeded in killing the bobcat, but 50-pound Laverne was critically injured and little Nemo, 30 pounds, was also wounded.

Karen Rogers noted that Laverne was found lying on top of her baby, in an apparent attempt to protect it from bobcat claws and teeth.

Brookfield veterinarian Will Barry and Fish & Wildlife Warden Keith Gallant quickly responded.

Barry noted this week that the injuries, deep puncture wounds, were much different than the "shredding" he sees when dogs attack sheep, a problem he "commonly deals with," as a large-animal vet. Being called for a bobcat attack, he said, is extremely unusual.

It appears Nemo will survive, but Laverne never stood again and died Monday night, Rogers said. Dr. Barry said that small ruminants suffer extreme stress from attacks, and that may have contributed to her death.

Game Warden Gallant said it was the first time, in his five years on the job, of responding to a "cat after livestock in a barn."

At first he thought the cat might have been rabid, but this bobcat was an "extremely robust" animal.

The "really beautiful cat," with subtle brown and grey spots on its side and large paws for easy travel on snow, "was just doing its job, trying to come up with a meal," Gallant said.

Rogers was within his rights to kill the cat, as homeowners are allowed by law to defend pets and livestock from fur-bearing animals, Gallant noted.

The attack was a "horrible incident," for the Rogers, who starting raising and breeding pygmy goats in 2005. The sweet-tempered animals are wonderful pets and also popular as "show goats."

The Rogers had planned to take Laverne and Nemo to a show this year, Karen Rogers said. She noted that more information on these goats is available on their website, http://rogersfamilyfarm.
homestead.com.

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