Brookfielder Marie Bray snapped this photo of a bobcat last Thursday evening while barbequing in the backyard with her family at their home on Falls Drive. Bray said that it was the first time they had seen the bobcat but not the first they had heard of it stalking around the neighborhood.

“At first we thought it was the fox” that roams the area, she said Tuesday, “But no, it was the bobcat. I got my camera out and he looked right up at me — he was in no rush.”

According to Bray, neighbors up the street had seen what appeared to be a baby bobcat near the intersection with Riverford and Deerfield Road earlier that week.

“It looks like we may have a family living in the area,” she said. “With all the wildlife around here, it’s not a big surprise.”

Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Wildlife Biologist Paul Rego said bobcats have been seen throughout the state but are most commonly found in the northwest, “though sightings can be common further south,” like in Brookfield.

“There are quite a few of them out there,” Regional Animal Control Officer Audrey McKay agreed, though “they usually try to stay away from people,” but may go after small dogs or cats.

“There’s very little need for concern,” Rego asserted, as the “most common problem is with [bobcats] attacking fowl — chickens, geese, ducks.”

Bobcats have been known to attack small dogs and cats in the past, but these incidents are rare, according to Rego.