CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (KDVR) — When you live in the suburbs, the backyard is bliss. It’s a sanctuary and a place the kids can safely play.
However, last Saturday the Woodard’s backyard in Castle Rock looked more like a zoo, when a bobcat hopped the fence in chase of a rabbit.
Five-year-old Rian Woodard was riding her big wheel on the back patio and locked eyes with the big cat. Both the cat and the little girl froze, neither moving or breaking the stare for 22 seconds, when the feline finally flinched and sauntered away.
“It seemed like an hour. They locked eyes and just kind of stared at one another,” said Rian’s mother, Nicole Woodard.
“It was just kind of the old Wild West of the good, bad, and the ugly,” added Rian’s father, Eric Woodard.
Once the stare down was over, Rian ran inside her house to tell her parents about her brave encounter.
“There was no alarm whatsoever of any panic,” said Eric.
The girl’s parents were convinced the bobcat was likely just a large housecat.
“I thought maybe she was just being a little dramatic,” said Nicole.
However, skepticism gave way to reality after Nicole and her husband watched the footage captured by their backyard security camera.
“I think I was in shock. I was kind of terrified for her,” said Nicole.
The video was proof that not only do imaginations run wild in the backyard, in some instances, so do the wildlife.
“She thinks she’s the bobcat whisperer now,” said Nicole.