Woman Tries to ‘Here Kitty’ a Stray—Then Realizes What the Animal Really Is

Viewers were left speechless after a woman who tried calling over a cat realized it wasn’t the kind of cat she expected.

In a November 13 TikTok video posted by user @life.of.megs, a woman spotted an animal lurking around the corner of a building. She saw the whiskers and pointed ears and immediately thought it was a cat. She tried calling over the cat with the “here kitty, kitty,” tactic. However, this cat was not budging.

She tested her luck and started moving closer, but immediately stopped when the catlike animal walked through the yard and revealed its true size. Her excitement dropped as it dawned on her—this was not the cat she imagined. Instead, it was a bobcat.

She wrote in the caption that it wasn’t her fault she made the mistake. She just moved from Manitoba where there aren’t bobcats hanging around the neighborhood like this one was in Calgary. She better get used to her new neighbors though, as these animals are commonly seen in this Canadian city.

An article from CBC reported bobcat sightings in Calgary skyrocketed from 2018 to 2020, from about 1,000 to 2,000, and have stayed consistent since the pandemic. But what are these bobcats doing in the urban surroundings?

Turns out they are making themselves at home—using sidewalks, posting up in yards and lounging wherever they see fit. The City of Calgary shared that bobcats are an important part of its parks’ ecosystem and biodiversity. They’re highly adaptable animals and the more they’re around humans and development, they could lose their fear. But it is unlikely for a bobcat to attack a human. They instead go after rabbits, hares or smaller animals such as mice or squirrels.

The TikTok video amassed over 258,000 views, 31,300 likes and 583 comments as of Friday. Wanting to make her feel better, viewers flooded the comment section, assuring that her cat instincts weren’t off.

“Well technically he is a cat. Just not a petting kind of cat,” said one person, while a second echoed: “Okay but he is a cat, your instincts were solid.”

Another added: “He thought about it for a second too though. He was like, ‘But Maaaaybe…'”

Newsweek reached out to @life.of.megs via TikTok for additional information.

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