Colorado driver puts injured bobcat in car next to child

In this photo taken Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019, provided by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, an injured bobcat stares from the back of an SUV after a Colorado Springs, Colo., woman placed it in her car, just inches away from where her child was sitting in a safety seat. The woman was trying to help the cat, which was possibly hit by a vehicle, but the agency says the cat posed a threat to her and her boy and that it's better to let officials handle injured wildlife, especially predators like bobcats. (Colorado Parks and Wildlife via AP)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - Officials have a warning after a Colorado Springs woman put an injured bobcat in her car, inches away from where her child was in a safety seat: Don't pick up wildlife.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Bill Vogrin says the woman spotted the injured adult male cat while driving, wrapped it in a blanket and put it in the back of her SUV on Wednesday.

A boy, about 3 years old, was in the back seat.

Agency officials told her to get her boy and herself out of the vehicle when she called to ask what to do.

Vogrin says District Wildlife Manager Sarah Watson responded to the call, opened a door and slammed it shut when she spotted the 20-pound (9-kilogram) cat.

Watson used a trapping device to remove the animal, which was hissing and resisting despite severe internal injuries and paralyzed rear legs. The mortally injured cat was euthanized.