Video of a bobcat's fight with rattlesnake goes viral
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (KSAZ) - It's no secret that when it comes to nature, it's survival of the fittest, and for one rattlesnake, it was no match for a hungry bobcat.
In a way, Arizona is rattlesnake and bobcats territory, as they rattlesnakes and bobcats were here long before humans were. For Laura Lucky, she feels very lucky to have witnessed the roadside show.
Lucky is a real estate agent. She was showing a home in north Scottsdale to a couple from northern California, and was not planning to give the prospective homebuyers a taste of the wild west, during the house hunt.
Lucky says before she started recording, the diamondback snake took a bite out of the bobcat.
"The rattlesnake had come up and bit the bobcat on the lip," said Lucky. "The cat flew. It was very surreal."The bobcat and the rattlesnake continued to spar for several more minutes, all of which was captured on camera.
The feline was not rattled by the diamondback's venom, but the nerves of the humans that were watching were definitely rattled.
"I was freaked out," Lucky recounted. "At least we were in a car. If we were out walking, I would not get as close and run away. The last thing I'd want to do is get between the two of them."
Ultimately, the bobcat proved he was, indeed, the king of this desert, clamping down on the diamondback's head and dragging him away.
As for the California couple looking to move to north Scottsdale, it remains to be seen if they changed their minds about moving from wine country to rattlesnake country.
"I was telling my clients this was very abnormal. Don't expect to see this," said Lucky. "It was real fun to watch. Won't ever see anything like that again."
Bobcats are immune to rattlesnake venom, so he was able to keep fighting, even after the snake bit him several times.
It is rattlesnake season right now, and snakes are coming out in the warm weather.