Bobcat
Physical Characteristics
- "28-49 3/8" (71-125 cm) long.
- Tawny (grayer in winter), with indistinct black spotting.
- Short, stubby tail with 2 or 3 black bars and black tip
above; pale or white below.
- Upper legs have dark bars.
- Face has thin, black lines radiating onto broad cheek ruff.
- Ears slightly tufted.
- Males larger than females.
Tracks - Fore- and hindprints about the same size, 2" long,
slightly longer than wide, with 4 toes, no claw marks. If clearly
outlined, heel pad distinguishes from canine print: dog's or
Coyote's is lobed only at rear; Bobcat's is lobed at rear and
concave at front, giving print scalloped front and rear edges.
Trail very narrow, sometimes as if made by a 2-legged animal,
because hindfeet are set on, close to, or overlapping foreprints;
9-13" between prints. This manner of walking may be an adaptation
to stalking: hunting as it travels, cat can see where to place
its forefeet noiselessly, then brings down hind feet on the same
spots."
Habitat - Primarily scrubby country, broken forests, but adapts
to swamps, farmlands, and arid lands if rocky or brushy.
Range - Spottily distributed from coast to coast from southern
Canada into Mexico. Probably most plentiful in Far West, from
Idaho, Utah, and Nevada to Pacific and from Washington to Baja
California with some found in the Northeast and Southeast. In
Florida they appear nearly extinct.
Diet - It preys mostly on the Snowshoe Hare and cottontails but
also eats mice, squirrels, Porcupines, and cave bats.
Reproductive Characteristics Etc. - Found only in North America,
where it is the most common wildcat, the Bobcat gets its name
from its stubby, "bobbed," tail. It lies up by day in a rock
cleft, thicket, or other hiding place.... Its scream is piercing
and when threatened, it utters a short, sudden, and resonant
"cough-bark." It yowls louder and most often during breeding
season.