This handsome bobcat (Lynx rufus) was photographed with game camera in one of our meadows on January 2, 2016. Friend and Essex neighbor John Davis mounted the camera about a month ago. In addition to photographs of deer, turkeys, and rabbits he discovered four images (from two separate occasions) of this healthy bobcat. In fact, he thinks it might possibly have been two separate bobcats.
“What joy to have such lovely creatures on our lands!” ~ John Davis
It truly is absolutely wonderful. I can’t believe that this sly feline has been slinking around in our back woods/meadows, and yet I’ve never one spied him/her. Not even a footprint. Here’s the sequence of three consecutive photographs as the bobcat walked past the trail camera.
I look forward to other surprises over the course of the winter. Thanks, John, for another Rosslyn safari installment!
Bobcat Behavior
Wondering about the elusive, rarely witnessed but apparently [increasingly] common bobcat? I did. I do. How does Lynx rufus traverse our wild (and not-so-wild) places without being more frequently documented?
The bobcat is crepuscular. It keeps on the move from three hours before sunset until about midnight, and then again from before dawn until three hours after sunrise. Each night it will move from 2 to 7 mi (3.2 to 11.3 km) along its habitual route. This behavior may vary seasonally, as bobcats become more diurnal during fall and winter in response to the activity of their prey, which are more active during the day in colder months. (Source: Wikipedia)
[Update: I revisited this post on the Essex on Lake Champlain community blog with a few ruminations and evolutions.]
Crepuscular is a cool (but decidedly un-onomatopoetic) word for the gloaming. Twilight. Cocktail hour… And this, neighbors, might have something to do with the bobcat’s invisibility. Although cocktail hour also seems to be the most oft reported Champy sightings, so maybe my logic is off! Maybe the peripatetic… behavior of Lynx rufus is a more likely explanation for infrequent sightings. Always on the move. Sly. Stealthy. (Source: Lynx rufus (Bobcat) Sighting in Essex)
Hoping to learn more about the habits of our local bobcats, and possibly (fingers, arms, and eyes crossed) we’ll even get lucky and report another bobcat sighting…
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