High School Put on Lockdown for Hours after Bobcats Make Their Way onto School Campus
As students returned to Boulder Creek High School in Anthem, Arizona, after the holiday break, they were greeted with a big surprise.
The school entered into a lockdown situation soon after the start of classes.
Students were used to lockdown drills from time to time as a way to prepare for an emergency. They were surprised to hear that this time it was the real thing.
What was the emergency? As strange as it may seem, there were bobcats on campus.
One of these wild animals was spotted just outside of the cafeteria and the school immediately activated the lockdown system.
No one knew how or why the bobcat had ventured onto the property and most felt a sense of curiosity rather than fear.
The Arizona Game and Fish crew came to the rescue. It took some time to locate the bobcat and tranquilize it.
It was soon discovered that there were kittens along with the mother bobcat.
The visitors were a big surprise for everyone. Though a bobcat family arriving at school is a first, seeing them in Anthem is not unusual.
In the recent past there has been a bit more concern about bobcats, though, because a rabid one attacked a man and his dog last summer.
As locals pondered the reasons for this bobcat visit, it was suggested that the mother bobcat had placed her kittens in a drainage pipe located on school property.
Perhaps it seemed like a safe place, as the high school became quiet over the break.
Others proposed that they had fallen into the pipe accidentally. Sources seemed unable to decide what the real reason was, and the only ones who know — the bobcats themselves — aren’t saying much about it.
The students were in lockdown for several hours. They seemed to take it in stride as the rescuers worked just outside of the school doors.
After rescuers managed to capture the mother safely, they worked to lure the babies out. Officials plan to release them back into the wild as soon as possible.
Officials will continue to monitor the school grounds. Though this emergency ended with the rescue of a wildlife family, it’s good to know that the safety standard put in place by the school system are working.
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