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Watch: Bobcat visits private B.C. airport; owner helps it to freedom

"It looked to me from my distance like a more fluffy domestic cat," said the Kamloops resident.

A Kamloops resident had a rare up-close-and-personal encounter with a small, curious bobcat this week, capturing the interaction on camera.

Local pilot and YouTuber Jan Nademlejnsky took the footage at his airplane hanger on Dec. 30, calling the wild cat "very cute."

"I noticed small footprints in the snow the pervious day. This time I saw it. It looked to me from my distance like a more fluffy domestic cat. Eventually, as I came closer, I noticed the typical hairs from its ears. I saw from the footprints around the fences that it looked for way out of the airport," Nademlejnsky told Castanet.

"I did not manage to guide it through my open gate out. I followed it to nearby outdoor table, where I got good phone video. I went back to finish my work. I followed its footprints to the other sections of airport and eventually guided it to area with gap between the fence and building," where the bobcat squeezed through and disappeared.

In the video, Nademlejnsky speaks softly to the cat, asking "Hi, what's up?" and "Are you after my mice?"

He said it is the first time in his life he has been so close to one of the animals.