If you happen to see a bobcat who answers to the name of "Rocky" roaming the Jersey Shore, don't worry. He's a "timid" family pet and his owner is trying to find him before the cops do.
Rocky recently slipped out the back door and hasn't returned him since. His owner, Virginia Fine, told the local NBC news affiliate that he's just a regular 38-pound house pet who was born in captivity, not the wild: "He's sweet, he's nice, he's super affectionate with me." She denies he's anything but timid with strangers: "He has no aggression at all. He has never hurt anybody."
The neighbors are still nervous, though, probably because he's an enormous bobcat named Rocky, which is as close as you can get to a pet tiger without being a zookeeper or a billionaire. Seriously, look at this magnificent guy.
So the police are involved, warning everyone not to approach the cat. "We've had a couple instances in the past with this animal getting loose," Stafford Township Police Capt. Tom Dellane told NBC. If the cops find him, Fine would be "subject to immediate impoundment of the animal until such time as there was a further court hearing to determine what would be done with it."
If you've ever wondered what the cops at the Jersey Shore get up to in the off-season, now you have your answer.