Emaciated bobcat attacks woman

This article does not mention that the animal had mange, which with the description of gaunt and unhealthy points to secondary poisoning by rodenticides. It takes heavy doses of vitamin K to counteract the toxic effects of anti-coagulants. Top predators are suffering from drought related crash in rodent populations. The few rodent populations that are doing well are near human habitation where water and food are available. Then humans justifiably not wanting rodents in their homes are using the rodenticides available at the local store, not realizing how dangerous these are for wildlife and their pets. The secondary poisoning of cats, dogs, bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions, and even bears is at epidemic proportions in California.

I feel for the woman who was attacked and also for the bobcat. The lack of government funded wildlife rehabilitation facilities (thank goodness for the private facilities run by people with huge hearts and generally small pocketbooks), makes treating all of the animals impractical. The best thing is to restrict and even abolish the use of rodenticides and start being smarter about how to reinforce buildings to keep rodents out, so that the cycle of life can continue without harming humans or wildlife.