Bobcat
A small wildcat about twice the size of a house cat, common but rarely seen, that can bring down prey many times its own weight.
Bobcat at a glance
Lynx rufus BOB-kat; Lynx rufus is LINKS ROO-fus
- Type
- Mammal · felid
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Size
- About twice the size of a house cat: 11 to 35 pounds (5 to 15 kg) and around 20 inches (50 cm) tall at the shoulder. The tail that gives it its name is short and 'bobbed,' only 3.5 to 7 inches (9 to 18 cm) long.
- Lifespan
- Up to about 12 years in the wild, though most live fewer.
- Conservation
- Least concern
Eats rabbits, hares, mice and other rodents, birds, occasionally young deer
A bobcat hunts alone, stalking low and quiet before a short rushing pounce. Rabbits and rodents make up most meals, but a bobcat is strong enough to kill prey several times its own size, including young deer, when the chance comes.
Should you worry?
Very low. Bobcats are shy, mostly nocturnal, and go out of their way to avoid people; a bobcat charging a person isn't a real concern. Keep pets leashed and don't leave food out, since that's what draws any wild animal closer than it should come.
Cumberland Island, Georgia, had a deer problem by the late 1980s: too many of them, eating every acorn and seedling before it had a chance to grow past ankle height, on a barrier island that had gone almost a century without a single bobcat to check them. In 1988 and 1989, wildlife biologists released 32 bobcats onto the island to see what would happen.
A bobcat weighs 11 to 35 pounds, twice the size of a house cat, built for rabbits and mice, not deer weighing several times as much. But the reintroduced bobcats took deer anyway, often enough that within a decade the deer population measurably declined. Live oak regeneration, seedlings and root sprouts that had been almost nonexistent under all that browsing, rebounded to about ten sprouts per square meter by the late 1990s. One shy, mostly nocturnal cat, reintroduced in modest numbers, had reshaped what the forest floor looked like.
At Joshua Tree, Lava Beds, or Crater Lake, that same animal is around in real numbers and almost never seen: it hunts alone, freezes instead of running, and leaves nothing behind but a short, stubby, “bobbed” tail and a set of prints crossing the dust after dark. At Lava Beds a mother and her kittens sometimes cross the park road at night, which is the best chance most visitors get: not a look at the cat, but a reason to slow down.
Did you know?
- A bobcat's home range can cover many square miles as it hunts night after night, moving quietly enough that fresh tracks in dust or snow are usually the only sign one passed through.
- At Lava Beds National Monument a mother bobcat and her kittens are sometimes seen at night on the park roads, part of why the monument asks drivers to slow down after dark.
- Bobcats are the most common wildcat in North America, living in nearly every state, but their spotted coat and habit of freezing in place make them easy to walk right past without noticing.
Common questions
Are bobcats dangerous to kids?
Not really. Bobcats are shy and avoid people; there's no real record of one attacking a person unprovoked. Keep dogs leashed and don't leave food out, since that's what could draw one close.
Can a bobcat really kill a deer?
Yes, occasionally. A bobcat weighs only 11 to 35 pounds, but it can take down prey several times its own size, including young deer, even though its everyday meals are mostly rabbits and rodents.
Is a bobcat the same as a lynx?
They're close cousins, both in the genus Lynx, but different species. A Canada lynx has much bigger, furrier paws for deep snow and lives farther north; the bobcat ranges across nearly the whole Lower 48.
Why is it called a bobcat?
Its short, stubby tail, only a few inches long, looks 'bobbed,' or cut short, compared to a house cat's long tail.