Bobcat Wildcat Pictures, Information and Facts
The Bobcat is a nocturnal member of the big cat family. They primarily inhabit
North America tending to occupy forests, swamps, desserts and even have been know
to live under ground.
Bobcats, also known as wildcats, tend to be two times the size of a housecat.
Though they generally hunt small animals like rabbit and birds for food, they are very aggressive and powerful hunters capable of killing prey much larger then themselves.
Unlike lions, bobcat are solitary animals, more in line with tigers. Their
litters tend to be one to six kittens who usually set off on their own after about
a year of life.
This is yet another big cat that humans hunt for their fur.
- Bobcats can live to 10 to 12 years in the wild.
- Weighing in from 11 to 30lbs.
- Bobcats can leap twenty five feet!
- This is a fairly common North American animal but they are rarely seen due to their
nocturnal nature.
Bobcat Information
- Where they live: North America and into Northern Mexico.
- What they eat: Rabbits and hares, though bobcats will hunt anything from insects to small rodents and deer.
- Family structure:Raising the young alone, the female generally has one to six kittens, which are usually born in the spring with a second litter possible in the early fall. The kittens begin traveling with the mother at three to five months, hunting by themselves by the fall of their first year. They usually go out on their own soon thereafter.
- Habitat: Preferring woodlands, the bobcat adapts easily to its environment. Living in such areas as humid Florida swamps to the dry desert of Texas, the bobcat can even survive in some urban settings. As long as they have a place to live free from harassment and the area is close to their prey — a crucial determining factor in their choice of habitat — then a bobcat can live almost anywhere.
- Endangered status: Though bobcats have seen a decline in the American Midwest, the status of the species is currently considered healthy and stable. It is listed in Appendix II on CITES. This status means that bobcats are not considered threatened, but hunting and trading their fur must be closely watched. The bobcat population in Canada remains healthy, though the Mexican bobcat is listed as endangered.
Physical Characteristics
A member of the Lynx genus, it is the smallest of the four members of that family of cats. With a coat running from tan to grayish brown, it has black streaks on the body and dark markings on the forelegs and the tail, which is bobbed. The spotted pattern on its coat functions as camouflage.
The bobcat's ears are black-tipped and pointed, with tufts of hair at the top of the ears. The fur on the underside of its body is an off-white color. The coats can range from the lightest in the desert regions of the Southwest to the darkest in the Northern forested regions of North America. In Florida, a few melanistic bobcats, or black bobcats, have been captured, but usually still exhibiting their spotted pattern.
Bobcats have a sharp sense of hearing and vision. Its sense of smell is also good. They can climb well, as well as swim, although they avoid water if possible. A bobcat's hind legs are muscular and longer than its front legs, which allows for added leaping ability. The longer back limbs also give the bobcat a bobbing gait when it runs.
Behavior
Bobcats are also known to be crepuscular, which are those animals commonly active during twilight, both at dusk and dawn. These animals keep on the move, hunting prey anywhere from three hours before sunset until around midnight. They repeat this pattern near dawn, hunting from just before dawn to around three hours after sunrise. Moving between two to seven miles every day, the bobcat will follow along an established, habitual route. In the winter the bobcat becomes more diurnal — or active during the day. This is in response to the prey they hunt, which is more active during daylight hours in the cold winter months.
Interaction With Other Bobcats
Largely solitary, like most felines, the bobcat's territory range sometimes overlaps with others of its species. This is more common in males than females, who rarely wander into another bobcat's territory. With their smaller range size, two or more female bobcats could potentially live within a male's home range. When there is a question of dominance in a multiple male territory, a hierarchy is often established. This often results in the exclusion of some transient bobcats from more favorable areas.