Bobcat (Lynx rufus)

Bobcats are rarely ever seen, but their presence can be identified at Jewel Cave National Monument in tracks and scat along the 3.5 mile Canyons Trail loop.

NPS/ Anela Ramos Kopshever

 

Bobcats will slowly work their way through tall grass along the Canyons trail, listening and hunting for mice and voles.

NPS/ Jessica Weinberg McClosky

Bobcat
Lynx rufus

• Felis rufus, the specific name rufus describes the reddish color of the summer coat the bobcat has.
• Has many names including bobcat, barred bobcat, cat o’ the mountain, and red lynx.
• Ranges from coast to coast in the United States, extreme southern Canada, and as far south as central Mexico.
• Males will maintain a home range up to 30 miles by marking with urine, feces and anal gland secretion.

Size and description

• Has many names including bobcat, barred bobcat, cat o’ the mountain, and red lynx.
• Bobcats are smaller than its at-a-glance-identical cousin, the Canada lynx, but is as much as 2-3 times the size of the average domestic cat.
• Weigh ranging from 15-35 lbs. and ranging from 19-23 inches at the shoulder and 31-35 inches in length.
• Identifiable by their short black-tipped bobbed tail, bobcats are easily differentiated from the Canada Lynx by the noticeably smaller ear tufts on the tips of the ears.
• Winter coloration is generally a yellowish-brown with black or brown markings ranging from spots to stripes. Summer coloration has identical black or brown markings but with more of a reddish-brown coat.
• Ears are tipped with longer guard hairs that are black in color.
• Bobcats often have ‘mutton chops’ on their cheeks, longer lighter colored hairs with brown or black stripes on them.
• Bobcats undergo one annual molt; their reddish summer coat is simply the yellowish winter coat that has been worn and faded over months of exposure.

 

Bobcats are more active at night, which in addition to their great camouflage are why we don't see them during the day. Often during the day bobcats are lying in wait or snoozing against the rocky canyon walls at Jewel Cave National Monument.

NPS Photo

Behavior

• Bobcats are generally quite secretive creatures. They take refuge in trees or in caves or often in cracks on cliffsides.
• In some parts of their range, bobcats are capable of reproduction at any point in the year. In some of their harsher regions of occupancy, bobcat breeding peaks in February-march, with a 60-70-day gestation period. The female may bear 1-5 kittens.
• Males may help with rearing the kittens, but the female is the primary caretaker of the helpless young. Once they are weaned, she will bring them kills to eat. Young bobcats are known to ‘play with their food’, so to speak, which helps them practice hunting which they will start doing at around 7-9 months of age.

Diet

• Diet is very diverse and dependent upon location. Bobcats in southern swampland may eat lots of frogs and songbirds whereas a bobcat in high desert may eat mostly voles, mice and ground nesting birds.
• Diet mostly consist of rodents, birds, amphibians and reptiles. It is uncommon, but not undocumented, for bobcats to predate on deer and antelope; primarily on unattended fawns.

 

Bobcat kittens are even more rare to see at Jewel Cave National Monument than their parents. Their mothers will keep them safely stashed among the walls of Hell Canyon along the Canyons Trail until old enough to explore.

NPS Photo

Interactions with other animals

• Bobcats, like most other felines, are loners. They will come together for rearing kittens but most of their time away from raising young is solitary.
• Rarely seen by people, bobcats are ambush predators. They might lay in wait all day waiting for a bird or a small mammal or reptile to walk past so it can pounce.
• While stealthy, they are not the masters of their domain. Bobcats are prey to mountain lions, coyotes and in modern times prey to human trappers with steel traps.
• As kittens, bobcats are prey to a wider suite of predators; owls, foxes and coyotes see kittens as a food source.
• Infanticide is common in bobcats; male bobcats will kill kittens to get their mother to go back into heat so he can spread his genetics.