feature story on bobcats from Topeka, KS paper
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:06 am
from the Topeka, KS Capital-Journal http://www.cjonline.com/stories/030208/ ... 4265.shtml
Murrell: Our state's biggest cat is a wild one
A mystery to most Kansans, the bobcat is found mainly in southeast counties
By Marc Murrell
Special to The Capital-Journal
Published Sunday, March 02, 2008
If you asked Kansans about the status of the state's largest wild cat, you might get several answers. Some would mention the mountain lion or cougar although there isn't much concrete evidence to document their existence despite hundreds if not thousands of sightings each year. Some would mention correctly the bobcat is the state's largest cat, but erroneously report there weren't many around or they were endangered. The reality is bobcats are doing well in the Sunflower State, despite the fact they remain a mystery to many lifelong residents.
Nationally bobcats are found throughout much of the United States, except for portions of a half-dozen states south of the Great Lakes, and Southern Canada. Kansas has two subspecies and they each occupy opposite ends of the state. Bobcats inhabit heavily forested areas with dense underbrush, rocky outcrops and bluffs. While bobcats are most numerous in the southeastern counties of Greenwood, Chautauqua and Elk, they are found statewide but decrease in numbers as you go west. They are even present in the counties housing Hutchinson, Topeka, Kansas City and Wichita.
Bob Gress / Special To The Capital-Journal
Bobcats are found statewide and even in and around Kansas' major metropolitan areas. Extremely secretive, bobcats are rarely seen as they travel throughout their core home range of 4-5 miles preying upon small mammals like cottontail rabbits and cotton rats, small birds and occasionally sick or fawn deer and carrion.
BOBCAT IN A TREE
Sometimes bobcats, as with other wild animals, are found in city settings. Most of the time, they are looking for food sources.
Here's an account of a bobcat found in a tree in Lubbock, Texas:
There was strange discovery in east Lubbock late Monday morning (June 11, 2007), when Lubbock Animal Control received a call that a leopard or cheetah was perched in a tree on East Brown Street.
The call came from the 1800 Block of E. Brown Street. When animal control arrived on scene, they found the large cat sitting in a tree.
Animal control tells NewsChannel 11 it's a bobcat, and our cameras caught them trying to corral the cat. It took them about two hours to get the animal into safe keeping.
"The cat was not harmed at all. Animal control did a very good job taking this cat into custody," Director of Lubbock Animal Service Kevin Overstreet said.
Overstreet tells us the cat will not be placed at the shelter. He says they'll most likely keep it at a private facility for exotic animals that they contract with.
Overstreet tells us they had an expert check out the bobcat. He says it was malnourished, and may have come into the city looking for food.
NewsChannell 11, Lubbock, Texas
A male bobcat may weigh up to 40 pounds although they likely average about 20 pounds. Females are slightly smaller and each is from 18-24 inches tall at the shoulder. Both sexes are similar in appearance. Each is reddish brown or gray and white underneath and spotted with black. The ears are short, black with a white spot or band on the back and usually tipped with small tufts of hair. Their face is round and obviously cat-like and they possess a short tail trimmed with black.
The bobcat's breeding season runs from January until August or even later. Most of the activity takes place from February to May and females may mate twice during the year and begin breeding at one year of age. The gestation period is about 63 days at which point from one to seven babies are born, typically averaging only two to three.
The young, born with their eyes closed, are only about 10 inches long and weigh less than a pound. Their eyes open in about 10 days and the mother typically brings them food until they're weaned in about two months. Young stay with the female until fall or even later and may stay together once they do leave.
Bobcats utilize stealth, excellent hearing and padded feet to capture prey, typically at dawn and dusk. Food intake is dependent upon prey availability and seasonal changes. However, much of their diet consists of small mammals in the form of cottontail rabbits and cotton rats. They also will eat small birds and have been known to kill fawn or injured deer. In lean times they will eat carrion as well.
Their search for food may take them many miles within their territory. Typically, most bobcats have a core area they cover of about five square miles but the entire territory may be up to 40 or 50 square miles for a male and about half that for a female. While on a typical hunt bobcats are curious and investigate anything that catches their eye that doesn't pose a threat. This leads to a zig-zag trail that meanders as they walk, trot or even leap up to 10 feet with each bound. Like other animals, bobcats mark their territory using urine or droppings.
Bobcats spend much of the day in a hollow log or cat-napping in dense brush. They are capable of scaling the tallest of trees and are adept swimmers, crossing creeks or rivers with ease. They even stretch and sharpen their claws on dead or decaying wood much like some domestic cats do on favorite furniture.
Although bobcats are extremely secretive, shy and retiring, they do make noise, particularly during the breeding season. And if you've never heard these sounds, you likely won't soon forget them. The shrill shrieks are much like a lady screaming or an extremely hungry infant voicing its displeasure at the lack of food. Others imitate typical sounds heard from a house cat on the prowl, except on a much louder and more intense scale. Squalling, howling, meowing and yowls are all part of their vocalization. If cornered or threatened, they will growl, hiss and spit.
Bobcats have very few natural predators. On occasion, young bobcats are killed by foxes, coyotes, wild dogs and great-horned owls. Their biggest predator is man. Kansas does have a regulated hunting and trapping season on these furbearers and harvest figures are monitored by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. All indications from this data show bobcats in the Sunflower State thriving throughout much of their range. Bobcats may live about 10 years in the wild while captive specimens may live more than 25 years.
The majority of Kansans will never have the good fortune to see a bobcat in its natural setting. They are extremely elusive and even veteran outdoorsmen only catch an occasional glimpse as they usually bolt at the first sight, smell or sound of man or dogs. But despite their secretiveness, it's nice to know that man and beast can peacefully coexist. Bobcats are important predators and they truly are a rich addition to the fauna of Kansas.
Marc Murrell can be reached at mmoutdoors@cox.net.
Murrell: Our state's biggest cat is a wild one
A mystery to most Kansans, the bobcat is found mainly in southeast counties
By Marc Murrell
Special to The Capital-Journal
Published Sunday, March 02, 2008
If you asked Kansans about the status of the state's largest wild cat, you might get several answers. Some would mention the mountain lion or cougar although there isn't much concrete evidence to document their existence despite hundreds if not thousands of sightings each year. Some would mention correctly the bobcat is the state's largest cat, but erroneously report there weren't many around or they were endangered. The reality is bobcats are doing well in the Sunflower State, despite the fact they remain a mystery to many lifelong residents.
Nationally bobcats are found throughout much of the United States, except for portions of a half-dozen states south of the Great Lakes, and Southern Canada. Kansas has two subspecies and they each occupy opposite ends of the state. Bobcats inhabit heavily forested areas with dense underbrush, rocky outcrops and bluffs. While bobcats are most numerous in the southeastern counties of Greenwood, Chautauqua and Elk, they are found statewide but decrease in numbers as you go west. They are even present in the counties housing Hutchinson, Topeka, Kansas City and Wichita.
Bob Gress / Special To The Capital-Journal
Bobcats are found statewide and even in and around Kansas' major metropolitan areas. Extremely secretive, bobcats are rarely seen as they travel throughout their core home range of 4-5 miles preying upon small mammals like cottontail rabbits and cotton rats, small birds and occasionally sick or fawn deer and carrion.
BOBCAT IN A TREE
Sometimes bobcats, as with other wild animals, are found in city settings. Most of the time, they are looking for food sources.
Here's an account of a bobcat found in a tree in Lubbock, Texas:
There was strange discovery in east Lubbock late Monday morning (June 11, 2007), when Lubbock Animal Control received a call that a leopard or cheetah was perched in a tree on East Brown Street.
The call came from the 1800 Block of E. Brown Street. When animal control arrived on scene, they found the large cat sitting in a tree.
Animal control tells NewsChannel 11 it's a bobcat, and our cameras caught them trying to corral the cat. It took them about two hours to get the animal into safe keeping.
"The cat was not harmed at all. Animal control did a very good job taking this cat into custody," Director of Lubbock Animal Service Kevin Overstreet said.
Overstreet tells us the cat will not be placed at the shelter. He says they'll most likely keep it at a private facility for exotic animals that they contract with.
Overstreet tells us they had an expert check out the bobcat. He says it was malnourished, and may have come into the city looking for food.
NewsChannell 11, Lubbock, Texas
A male bobcat may weigh up to 40 pounds although they likely average about 20 pounds. Females are slightly smaller and each is from 18-24 inches tall at the shoulder. Both sexes are similar in appearance. Each is reddish brown or gray and white underneath and spotted with black. The ears are short, black with a white spot or band on the back and usually tipped with small tufts of hair. Their face is round and obviously cat-like and they possess a short tail trimmed with black.
The bobcat's breeding season runs from January until August or even later. Most of the activity takes place from February to May and females may mate twice during the year and begin breeding at one year of age. The gestation period is about 63 days at which point from one to seven babies are born, typically averaging only two to three.
The young, born with their eyes closed, are only about 10 inches long and weigh less than a pound. Their eyes open in about 10 days and the mother typically brings them food until they're weaned in about two months. Young stay with the female until fall or even later and may stay together once they do leave.
Bobcats utilize stealth, excellent hearing and padded feet to capture prey, typically at dawn and dusk. Food intake is dependent upon prey availability and seasonal changes. However, much of their diet consists of small mammals in the form of cottontail rabbits and cotton rats. They also will eat small birds and have been known to kill fawn or injured deer. In lean times they will eat carrion as well.
Their search for food may take them many miles within their territory. Typically, most bobcats have a core area they cover of about five square miles but the entire territory may be up to 40 or 50 square miles for a male and about half that for a female. While on a typical hunt bobcats are curious and investigate anything that catches their eye that doesn't pose a threat. This leads to a zig-zag trail that meanders as they walk, trot or even leap up to 10 feet with each bound. Like other animals, bobcats mark their territory using urine or droppings.
Bobcats spend much of the day in a hollow log or cat-napping in dense brush. They are capable of scaling the tallest of trees and are adept swimmers, crossing creeks or rivers with ease. They even stretch and sharpen their claws on dead or decaying wood much like some domestic cats do on favorite furniture.
Although bobcats are extremely secretive, shy and retiring, they do make noise, particularly during the breeding season. And if you've never heard these sounds, you likely won't soon forget them. The shrill shrieks are much like a lady screaming or an extremely hungry infant voicing its displeasure at the lack of food. Others imitate typical sounds heard from a house cat on the prowl, except on a much louder and more intense scale. Squalling, howling, meowing and yowls are all part of their vocalization. If cornered or threatened, they will growl, hiss and spit.
Bobcats have very few natural predators. On occasion, young bobcats are killed by foxes, coyotes, wild dogs and great-horned owls. Their biggest predator is man. Kansas does have a regulated hunting and trapping season on these furbearers and harvest figures are monitored by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. All indications from this data show bobcats in the Sunflower State thriving throughout much of their range. Bobcats may live about 10 years in the wild while captive specimens may live more than 25 years.
The majority of Kansans will never have the good fortune to see a bobcat in its natural setting. They are extremely elusive and even veteran outdoorsmen only catch an occasional glimpse as they usually bolt at the first sight, smell or sound of man or dogs. But despite their secretiveness, it's nice to know that man and beast can peacefully coexist. Bobcats are important predators and they truly are a rich addition to the fauna of Kansas.
Marc Murrell can be reached at mmoutdoors@cox.net.