An 82-year-old Alabama man has gone viral after he was attacked by a bobcat while turkey hunting.
Claude Strother, a turkey hunter since 1975, called the incident, “Just a fluke deal.” He was out on his land in Wilcox County when the cat attacked him from behind.
Strother told FOX 10 News, “I set the perfect storm for it. There I was, perfectly camouflaged in a gap and all he could see was my head and all of a sudden I was knocked over and I turned and reached back. I assumed someone had hit me with a baseball bat. It was that hard. Dazed me but it was nothing there. I looked back around and the bobcat was trotting down the road. It could have been a lot worse.” The man stated that he always sits by big trees but had opted to sit between two smaller trees on this day.
Though the bobcat did bite into the back of Strother’s head, it luckily missed his eyes.
Right after it happened, Strother made sure to take selfies to show his family. Over the nearly 50 years he has been hunting, he had never been attacked.
Maintaining his sense of humor, Strother said, “He thought I was a turkey. My yelping is real good. He assumed I was a turkey with a wide head I guess. So, he tried it. I don’t blame him at all. I got no grudge against that bobcat; I wouldn’t have shot him if he let me.”
Even so, Strother did go to the doctor to get checked out. Meanwhile, his daughter, DeAnn McGilberry, shared the story on Facebook.
“My dad has so many unbelievable but true stories that it’s not surprising,” said McGilberry. She also said that reading all the comments has helped her dad and the family take their minds off his tough cancer battle.
Strother maintains a positive attitude and his passion for hunting has not been marred by the experience. He said, “I keep books. I got every hunt I been on since ’75. Every one. Whether I kill a turkey or not. She said (a Facebook comment), ‘looks like he got a good ending, a good last chapter in his book’…so she don’t think I’m gonna make it. I got other problems. I may not, but hopefully I will.”
Nothing, not even a bobcat or a battle with cancer, is going to keep Strother out of the woods, said WAFF 48 News.
“Next morning I went to the same spot,” he said, hoping to add another gobbler to his current career count of 247.
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