Facts on a Bobcat Animal
The bobcat is the most common wildcat in the United States and has the greatest habitat range of any cat native to North America. Fierce, adaptable hunters, bobcats are experts at surviving with limited food sources through even the toughest conditions. Though they are often hunted for their beautiful spotted fur, bobcats maintain a healthy population throughout most of North America and continue to thrive despite habitat destruction and other man-made threats.
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Physical Traits
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Bobcats are carnivores about twice the size of the average house cat. They are closely related to the lynx, a larger wild feline with which they share similar traits, such as tufted ears, long legs and large paws. Unlike the lynx, the bobcat has big, pointy ears and a stubby "bobbed" tail for which it is named. Coloring depends on climate and habitat, but bobcats are usually a mix of brown, grey, yellow and black, with a white underbelly. They weigh on average 20 to 30 lbs. and are usually about 15 inches tall.
Habitat
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Bobcats are highly adaptable creatures and can be found in almost any climate. Forests, deserts, swamps, brush land, mountains and even suburbs are all home to bobcats. They inhabit regions of northern Canada, southern California and Mexico, Atlantic and Gulf states, and nearly everywhere in between. They often favor transitional zones where two ecosystems intersect, such as forest and plains.
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Behavior
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Bobcats are highly territorial creatures that rarely encounter each other outside of mating. They mark their territories through defecation, urination and by clawing rocks and trees. Though fights between bobcats can be vicious, they generally avoid each other entirely for risk of injury. Females produce a litter of one to six kittens that will remain with the mother for up to one year before setting off on their own. Bobcats are incredibly elusive and rarely spotted by humans. Being crepuscular animals, they are most active at dawn and dusk.
Prey
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Bobcats are talented, adaptable hunters who will eat a wide variety of prey depending on what is available to them. Generally bobcats feed on small woodland creatures, such as rabbits, squirrels, birds and rodents. Occasionally, a bobcat will attack larger game like foxes, deer and even domestic animals like sheep if they can't track down their normal prey. Bobcats usually hunt their own food, but they have been known to scavenge as well.
Stable Population
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Unlike so many of its close feline relatives, the bobcat is not an endangered species and is in fact quite prevalent throughout North America. According to National Geographic, there are as many as 1 million bobcats in the United States. Nonetheless, habitat loss and hunting have diminished certain populations of bobcat, especially in the Midwest. As a whole, bobcats are quite resilient and seem to be here to stay.
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