Claremont residents concerned after family of bobcats briefly moves into man's backyard

CLAREMONT, Calif. (KABC) -- A family of bobcats made a Claremont backyard their own for a brief moment but it has left the homeowner a bit concerned.

"I just happened to notice some movement and just thought it looked like a strange looking cat at first," said homeowner Patrick Cullen. "Then when I got a closer look, I was like, 'Oh, it's a bobcat."

Cullen recorded cell video of the mother bobcat and her two kittens as they wandered through his yard.

He believes they may have been looking for shelter, water and possibly a few of the rabbits that bounced through his yard.

"I am used to seeing some wildlife ... definitely the first time I've seen any bobcats in the area," said Cullen.

Wildlife experts said it's likely the mother was looking for a food source and teaching her young to hunt for themselves.

Rabbits and other small rodents are a part of their main diet, but the issue is with pets.

"The concern with pets is that we don't want these animals to be interacting with our pets, whether they're large or small animals," said Mackenzie Rich, a Conflict Specialist for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. "We don't want our large dog to approach it and then, potentially, be scaring it or cornering the animal and making the bobcat feel like it has to defend itself."

Rich said the best thing residents can do is not to interact with the animals.

"If you see a bobcat in your yard, and it doesn't look like it's a lactating mom or a mom with kittens, go ahead and clap your hands, yell, wave your arms, get really big ... scare the animal off," she said.

Cullen also doesn't want the family of bobcats moving in.

"They are cute. It's just ... I don't necessarily want them to get too comfortable," he said. "I do have dogs I like to let run back here and they are on the smaller side."

However, it appears the bobcats didn't want to stay.

Cullen said he hasn't seen the family roaming through his backyard since Monday.