Chickens Meet Bobcat

Why are the young chickens hiding in the tall grass at 4:00 in the afternoon?    A bobcat came out of the brush at the end of the yard and was stalking them.  The cats ran away, the rabbit jumped around in her cage and the chickens hunkered down in a clump of timothy grass. I shot the bob cat THREE times with the BB gun before it left. It jumped in the air and made a 360° summersault. Very funny, too bad I didn't get that on video! The chicks usually let me herd them around the yard, but I could not lead them back to the coop, so I picked them up two at a time and locked them up. All is well. I hope the bobcat doesn't become a pest, it's a gorgeous animal and it's probably easier to shoot than trap.