Bobcats Widespread in United States

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The bobcat’s breeding season can run from January until August or even later, depending on location and climate. Most of the activity takes place from February to May, and females may mate twice during the year and begin breeding at one year of age. The gestation period is about 63 days, at which point one to seven babies are born, although a typical litter averages only two or three. The young, born with their eyes closed, are about 10 inches long and weigh less than a pound. Their eyes open in about 10 days, and the mother typically brings them food until they’re weaned in about two months. Young bobcats stay with the female until fall or even later and may remain together once they leave their mother.

Stealthy hunters

Bobcats utilize stealth, excellent hearing and padded feet to capture prey, typically at dawn and dusk. They may stalk and pounce on their prey, or crouch on a game trail or tree limb and await an unwary victim. Food intake is dependent upon prey availability and seasonal changes. The majority of their diet consists of small mammals in the form of rabbits, cotton rats, mice, shrews, squirrels, opossums and domestic cats. They will also eat small birds, quail and turkeys. Bobcats have been known to kill fawn or even adult deer on occasion. Bobcats gorge when food is plentiful and may not feed again for several days. They seldom return to eat from an old kill unless food is scarce. They waste considerable meat and may kill more than they can eat. They often bury surplus food under snow, grass, leaves or sticks. In lean times they will eat carrion as well.

These loners need space

A bobcat’s search for food or mates may take it many miles within its territory. Typically, most bobcats have a core area of about 5 square miles but the entire territory may be up to 50 square miles for a male and about half that for a female. Females tend to have almost exclusive home ranges, but males have ranges that overlap those of other males and females. The cats move more in winter and spring than summer and fall, with the most restricted range seen in the hot months of July and August. There is little social interaction between individuals. This lack of contact is achieved by marking their home range with scent posts containing fecal matter and urine. These scent posts serve to prevent encounters of resident individuals and put transient bobcats on notice that the range is occupied.

While on a typical hunt, bobcats are curious and investigate anything that catches their eye that doesn’t pose a threat. This leads to a zigzag trail that meanders as they walk or trot. When the need arises, they can even leap up to 10 feet in a single bound.

Bobcats spend much of the day in a hollow log or cat-napping in dense brush. They are capable of scaling the tallest of trees and are adept swimmers, crossing creeks or rivers with ease. They even stretch and sharpen their claws on dead or decaying wood much like some domestic cats do on favorite furniture.

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