by Art Young

Created on: July 24, 2010   Last Updated: July 25, 2010

Aside from a few stray dogs and squirrels, the wildest thing in downtown Dallas at night walks on two legs and has usually had one drink too many. With all the noise and traffic, downtown it’s not exactly wildlife habitat.

Image the surprise of Dallas Police Department when their 911 dispatcher got several calls from urban dwellers (now hiding and shrieking into their iPhones) about several tigers prowling the area around the Hyatt Hotel near the Amtrak train station. Since the circus was not due for about a month and the zoo was locked up for the night with no big cat escapees reported, the Dallas PD went into full-bore, tiger rapid response mode.

Fortunately for these urban denizens on their way to the next watering hole, it was quickly determined that there were no tigers in downtown Dallas. However, these menacing creatures were not pussy cats either. They were bobcats, and someone forgot to tell them that their kind is not welcome in a major American city.

Bobcats Terrorize Dallas – Film at Eleven

Gary Reeves, a reporter for television station WFAA noted in his report, “For the second time in two days, Dallas police got the call Tuesday night: Big cats on the loose in downtown Dallas.

They did not find any, but Brian Tindle — who called 911 —said he saw three and perhaps as many as six late Tuesday night.

'I was just driving by. The white light of my headlights hit the first bobcat, and he bolted by right here,' Tindle said, pointing out the feline's tracks off Riverfront Boulevard in the shadow of downtown skyscrapers.

On Monday, it was DART light rail passengers who thought they say tigers on Houston Street, near Union Station — something that had riders a bit concerned.

But experts say people have little to fear from wild bobcats, because other large animals scare them. They are hunting for small game like rats, mice and birds — the kind of wildlife that's abundant downtown.

So why are they roaming downtown? It is possible that construction is disturbing their homes. In the same place Brian Tindle saw those big cats on Tuesday night dump trucks were seen working the next day.”

Hunting Bobcats

The state of Texas classifies bobcats (Lynx rufus) as “non game animals” as are coyotes, armadillos, mountain lions, rabbits and porcupines. Farmers and ranchers have a more picturesque term for this bunch – varmints. In most states there is no closed season for bobcats, so if the hunter has a current

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