Bobcat released into the wild after car crash south of Phoenix

ARIZONA — A bobcat used up one of its nine lives in a car crash Friday afternoon.

A driver on his way to work in Gila Bend discovered a live bobcat under his car’s hood, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

He only found the wild animal after he parked his car and heard strange noises, officials said.

“He looked under the hood and saw two eyeballs looking at him,” the office announced on Facebook.

As it turns out, the driver had unknowingly hit the bobcat while driving to work around 70 miles south of Phoenix.

Law enforcement officials from District 2, which covers Gila Bend, Tonopah, the southwest areas of the Phoenix metropolitan area and other communities, arrived to help.

Workers from the Arizona Game and Fish Department also showed up to save the bobcat from its hairy situation.

Working together, the team sedated the bobcat and removed it from the engine compartment, officials said.

It had no injuries, so they released it into the wild.

Officials said, “District 2 is still the wild, wild west!”