Bobcats at Winter Bird Feeders

Bobcats Come Close in Winter

Bobcat [C Melanson Photo]

As mid-winter approaches bobcats start being seen around human habitation.  This year has been no exception.  As winter deepens food gets scarcer and bobcats are hungry.  The photo above shows a bobcat taken in New Brunswick in 2016.  

North America has three Felidae members, the mountain lion (cougar), the lynx and the bobcat.  New Brunswick has the lynx and the bobcat.  The Bobcat (Lynx rufus) is more numerous in the province with lynx numbers increasing, according to our biologists.  The bobcat traditionally prefers coniferous, deciduous and mixed forests.  Our biologists tell us that as the lynx population increases and with its preference for heavy forest, the bobcat has moved in closer to cities and towns. The bobcat is a very adaptable species which is better at surviving in suburban and semi-rural environments.  

How do you tell a lynx from a bobcat?  Admittedly, they do look a lot alike.  The bobcat is smaller, the adult male on average weighing 9.6 kg (21 lb) and being 82 cm (32 in) long.  It stands about 45 cm (18 in) at the shoulder and its tail is about 14 cm (6 in) long.  The lynx is bigger: males are about 88 cm (35 in) long, 8.6 kg (19 lb) and their tails are about 11 cm (4 in) long.  Many observers have stated that the bobcat and the lynx are similar in size in their bodies but the lynx has longer legs.  

But all these statistics don't help much in the field.  How do you tell them apart if you see one in your yard or on a walk in the woods?  Well, both species are very wary and you are unlikely to see one when you are outside.  They will hear you coming and will quietly disappear.  If you do get a good look or a photo, the lynx will show its longer legs and it has very noticeably longer ear tufts.  The bobcat also has ear tufts but they are much shorter.  Both are tan to greyish-brown with black streaks on the body and bars on the forelegs.  This makes very good camouflage.  The bobcat has a longer tail than the lynx.  The tail of the bobcat has a white tip and broad black distal bands.  The tip of the tail of the lynx is black and there are no black bands.  The ears are also significant.  The dorsal surface of the bobcat ear is black with a large white spot.  The lynx has gray ears with black margins.

Bobcats are solitary animals with a home range of about 20 square kilometres (8 sq. mi) although this varies greatly.  Home ranges are probably much smaller in suburban environments.  In their home range they have well-travelled paths and they mark their territory with urine posts, fecal mounds and scratchings on tree trunks.  They are generally nocturnal but become diurnal in hard times, such as winter when they need to come to bird feeder areas to find food in daylight when their prey is active.  

Bobcats build their nests of dry leaves and moss sheltered in hollow logs, rock crevices and thickets or under a stump or fallen tree.  Breeding season for bobcats is in late winter.  Females appear to have a prolonged breeding season and most litters are born in mid-April or early May.  Sometimes there is a second litter in the fall.  Gestation is about 60-70 days and 2 to 4 kittens are born.  The female does most of the care of the young.  After the young are weaned the male brings food for the offspring.

The bobcat lifespan is from 7 to 10 years.  In the wild the oldest animal was measured at 16 years.  One individual lived in captivity to be 32 years old.

Bobcat [Internet Photo]

The bobcat turns out the young of the year often in January, leaving these young, relatively inexperienced felines to fend for themselves at the most difficult time of year.  That is why we see them around our houses and bird feeders in winter.  They are starving and willing to come close to human habitation out of necessity.  Any photos we see taken around houses show emaciated, desperate individuals as shown in the photo above.  This individual was so desperate it even braved coming up on a deck.  

The bobcat diet is traditionally rabbits and hares.  It also eats small rodents such as rats, mice and squirrels, birds, fish, insects and even porcupines and skunks.  They hunt by either stalking their prey or waiting in ambush.  

Winter is a good time to study animal tracks.  The bobcat track is unique and shows 4 toes and no claw marks.  Tracks average about 4.5 cm (2 in) wide and are in a straight line and about 20 to 46 cm apart (8 to 18 in).  When running they can make strides up to 2 m (6 ft) apart.  For a good visualization look at a house cat track in the snow and then imagine it much bigger.  

The bobcat population is healthy and stable in New Brunswick.  Threats to population numbers include humans with trapping and road kills.  Kittens endure significant mortality from coyotes, foxes, bears and great horned owls.  Starvation and disease are the big killers here.  Rodenticides can be a problem when foraging for rodents in areas where they are being used.  This is a good point for birders to remember when trying to exterminate any rats that might be hanging around their feeders. Another threat is fragmentation of home ranges.  This is a continued problem for all wildlife which is only minimally being studied and addressed at present. 

After the next snowstorm, look closely for bobcat tracks around your feeders.  You just might be having a special visitor!