FRESH MEAT

Man Says He Thought Home-Invading Bobcat Was ‘Gonna Turn Me Into a Hamburger’

Mike Peabody, 70, sustained scratches to his legs after his terrifying encounter with the rabid animal.

For Mike Peabody of Windsor, Vermont, Friday the 13th lived up to its name, as the 70-year-old was attacked by a bobcat in his own home. After the bobcat, which has since tested positive for rabies, entered his house, Peabody feared that it would attack his domesticated feline friend, so he kicked the rabid animal. That’s when the assailant turned on Peabody himself, who is now receiving medical treatment for the scratches on his legs and being tested for rabies. Peabody, wounded but OK, trapped the bobcat in his bathroom after the encounter and waited for the police to arrive. “I was thinking, ‘That cat’s gonna turn me into a hamburger,’” Peabody told NECN and NBC10 Boston on Wednesday. “And it could’ve—real easily.”