Wild animal stuck inside car sets off "baffling" rescue mission: "This is a first"

Stevens Point, Wisconsin - There's a first time for everything, even for emergency responders! In a curious incident, authorities in Wisconsin got a call that a wild animal had somehow gotten stuck inside the grill of a car.

A bobcat in Wisconsin had gotten into the grill of a Toyota and seemed stuck there.
A bobcat in Wisconsin had gotten into the grill of a Toyota and seemed stuck there.  © Collage: Screenshot/Facebook/Sheriff Mike Lukas

Last Tuesday evening, a driver contacted law enforcement for help with a strange incident.

Yet, they had not been involved in an accident or crime. Instead, they had discovered an uninvited passenger who had certainly served up quite a scare.

Sheriff Mike Lukas recalled the night in a Facebook post.

Dog sent to daycare to socialize prefers to sit in hole and "judge the peasants"
Dogs Dog sent to daycare to socialize prefers to sit in hole and "judge the peasants"

"Ok this is a first, dispatch gets a caller stating, 'I have a bobcat in my car,'" he wrote.

Officers on duty were certainly curious to see if there was any truth to the story, as the message dispatched over the radio sounded more like a belated April Fool's joke.

Once on the scene "to investigate," the officers examined the Toyota and found what they were looking for in the front of the car's radiator grill.

"You can imagine the shock they were in when low and behold there was a bobcat in the vehicle," Lukas said.

The officers were admittedly "baffled," so they then "called in reinforcements."

Police officers call in reinforcement to rescue the bobcat from car

Wisconsin police officers and responders were able to free the bobcat from the car.
Wisconsin police officers and responders were able to free the bobcat from the car.  © Screenshot/Facebook/Sheriff Mike Lukas

The officers called in Conservation Warden colleague Bryan Lockman, who seemed to be more familiar with four-legged friends.

As seen in body cam video, the crew worked together to remove the grill and used a stick to guide the wild animal in one quick swoop into a pickup truck waiting nearby.

The bobcat did not seem happy about the move. In the clip, the animal is seen resisting its rescue.

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Animals Woman thinks she's looking at an owl – then she realizes the hysterical truth

After the big cat was safely stowed away it, was later returned to the wild.

"All in a day’s work," the sheriff wrote.

Cover photo: Collage: Screenshot/Facebook/Sheriff Mike Lukas

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