Police Investigating Possible Burglary Find Bobcat at Top of Home’s Stairs

A suspected break-in in Kirkland, Washington, turned out to involve an unexpected intruder: a bobcat inside a home. According to the Kirkland Police Department, a resident in the Moss Bay neighborhood recently called 911 after hearing loud banging and worrying that someone had entered the house. When officers arrived, they found the animal perched at the top of the stairs. Rather than approach the bobcat directly, police used a drone to track its movements from a safe distance. The drone helped guide the animal into an unoccupied room, where it remained until personnel from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife arrived. Wildlife officials sedated the bobcat and transported it to a wilderness area near Forbes Creek. Police said the animal most likely climbed a tree and entered the home through an open window. They also suspected that the bobcat may have been pursuing the resident’s cat. That cat was later found unharmed inside the house. The incident prompted police to describe the bobcat as a literal “cat burglar” in their account of the unusual response.