Encountering Wild Animals on Walks?

I know some of our members live in areas where they more regularly encounter wild animals, but I'm an urban dweller. The most "wild" animal I usually encounter is a skunk, and they're not so much wild as really annoying. So maybe someone less urban can help me.

Where I live is surrounded by mountains, so the outer edges of the city do occasionally get bears and mountain lions, but I live well into the city and have never seen anything like that. Until last night.

Kabota and I were almost home from our after work walk when I looked over and saw a black cat crouched against a car about 20 feet away. It was pure black with yellow eyes and strange, enlongated ears. It really caught my attention and I was staring at it when I realized that in order for the cat's back to hit the top of the hubcap on the car, the cat would have to be at least Kabota's size, 45lbs.

There are no housecats that big. Here's what I saw:



My question is, any tips for this sort of thing? Kabota didn't notice the bobcat, but if he had, he would have gone for it. He's not afraid. And while he's protected from rabies, I'd be on the other end of the 5' leash and I'm not vaxxed for rabies. Plus, I doubt I could get a bobcat off of Kabota in time to save his life if the bobcat decided to attack him. I'm also not sure that my "hit it over the head with a breakstick" technique will work as well for a wild cat as for a domesticated dog.

Thanks.