Farmer Grabs Lynx By Scruff, Scolds It For Killing His Chickens

A farmer in Canada grabbed a lynx by the scruff after it attacked his chicken coop Sunday and scolded the wild cat genus before hauling it away.

When Chris Paulson of Burns Lake was returning home on Feb. 21, he heard some commotion coming from his chicken coop. He decided to check and saw the lynx inside.

The lynx had already killed two chickens and was going for more. “So I jump in there and try to shoo him out. He was totally not aggressive towards me, but really focussed on catching some more chickens,” Paulson told CTV News.

He then grabbed the animal by the scruff of its neck and moved it away from the coop. Paulson said the lynx didn’t struggle and went really passive, it was “just like his mum picking him up.”

The farmer then decided to give the lynx some scolding. In a video he shared with local media, he can be seen holding the lynx and talking to it.

“Let’s go see the damage you did, buddy,” Paulson is heard saying in the video, adding, “not good, is it? No,” CTV News reported.

“See how upset you made everyone? That’s two of our new chickens,” he adds.

Paulson then put the lynx in a dog kennel and released it back into the wild.

Officials have, however, warned against dealing with a lynx the way Paulson did. Jeff Palm, a conservation officer, told CBC News he was surprised to hear Paulson "was able to grab it by the scruff of the neck and not end up being bitten and scratched up.”

He added that they don’t recommend handling a lynx with bare hands.

“You certainly might lose an arm.” The conservation officer also warned that it’s illegal to capture live wildlife and move them to a new location. The British Columbia Conservation echoed the same advice. Sgt. Ron LeBlanc, whose office investigated the incident, said it’s not something they would advise the public to do because people can get hurt and it’s illegal. The Conservation closed the case after telling Paulson what to do in the future if he encounters a similar incident.