Bobcats tree hiker in Shiloh park

<p>A hiker in Shiloh Regional Park was accosted by a pair of bobcats that chased her into a tree along the trail Friday afternoon, Sonoma County sheriff’s officials reported.</p><p>The woman was uninjured.</p><p>She told officials she encountered the bobcats about 20 minutes into her hike off the South Ridge trail.</p><p>“They ran toward her, so she climbed a tree,” said Lt. Scott Dunn.</p><p>One of the cats left after the woman climbed into the branches, but the second “hung out for a while” at the base of the tree, Dunn said.</p><p>The woman called 911 on her cell phone, but both cats were gone when sheriff’s and regional parks officials arrived, and the woman was walking down the trail.</p><p>Bobcats are typically shy animals and are rarely seen in pairs outside of mating season.</p><p>Hikers need to be aware that Northern California is bobcat and mountain lion territory and know how to protect themselves, Dunn said.</p><p>Adult bobcats typically weigh 15 to 20 pounds and subsist on rabbits, squirrels, mice and gophers. They have been known to kill animals as large as young deer.</p><p>“Ideally, you want to make yourself big. You don’t want to run,” Dunn said. “And bobcats can climb trees.”</p><p>— Laura Norton</p>