A 46-year-old grandmother fought off a rabid bobcat and strangled the animal to death with her bare hands. The bobcat reportedly came for the woman's face after she took a picture of it.
A Deadly Attack
DeDe Phillips from Athens, Georgia stated that a bobcat attacked her in her yard. Prior to the attack, Phillips was working on her truck at 6 p.m. and posted a sticker on its bumper. She planned to take a picture of the sticker to send to her husband. When she walked out of her house after retrieving her cellphone, she noticed her neighbor's dog was barking, which caught her attention, and saw what the dog was barking at.
Phillips spotted the rabid bobcat and after taking a picture of it, the animal took two steps and launched itself on Phillps and tried to claw her face.
Growing up in the south, Phillps stated that she was familiar with this animal's behavior. Normally, bobcats aim for the throat because if they cut the vain, a person will be dead within a few minutes.
This bobcat, however, didn't go for Phillips' throat but it did claw her face. Phillips grabbed the animal off her face and threw it straight to the ground, where she had her hands around its neck and strangled it.
"It caught me slightly on my face, but I got him before he could do much damage there. I took it straight to the ground and started inching my hands up to its throat. I knew that was the only way I was getting out of this," Phillips stated.
Grandmother Fights For Her Life
Phillips stated that she initially didn't scream for help while she was strangling the animal because she did not want her 5-year-old granddaughter, who was inside of the house, to come outside. After she saw the bobcat was unresponsive, she yelled for her daughter-in-law to call 911. Her son came out of the house as well with a knife and a gun. Phillips stated that her son stabbed the bobcat four or five times to make sure it was dead.
Deputies with the Hart County Sheriff's Office later arrived at the scene, as well as an ambulance to take Phillips to a local hospital. Phillips declined and decided to drive herself to the hospital where she was treated for a broken finger, as well as bite and claw marks on her upper body.
Phillips also began treatment for rabies vaccinations, which has already cost her $10,000. Her cousin has set up a fund-raising page to help cover Phillips' medical expenses.
