10 pound hen taken by bobcat/mountain lion

[kari_dawn]

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Oh, no! I don't mean they EAT them! I just mean the huge size difference (ten pound cat vs. 35 pound bobcat) would most likely result in injury to the domestic cat...think turkey trying to mate a chicken.

 

[cw]

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well, we have had a lot of people claim to have bobcat/domestic hybrids, but we have yet to verify any of them. However, I would not put it past a bobcat to TRY. We have many "barn cats" at the facility, some of them have even become surrogate siblings for our orphan bobs. Bobcats are extremely social, and many single babies sucumb to capture myopathy and will die without the company of another, but they are also pretty suceptable to certain diseases, so we have to adhere to strict quarantine, and can't always provide another baby bob. SO, our domestics step in for a while. We have never had a bob attack or injure a domestic in any way, not even bobcats that have not been socialized with domestic cats have tried to harm them. They DO however, like to play with them...which can only be allowed up to a certain age for obvious size/power difference reasons.

For this same reason (significant differences in size and strength = injury to a domestic cat), there is a good chance that there would be no occurance of a domestic cat breeding with a bobcat, but I do know of a bobcat that was captured and kept from a very young age. Though he acted wild, and did not ever have humans in his enclosure (he was "owned" by people who did not understand this animal, and they feared him, therefore never worked with him), even as a sexually mature adult, he shared every meal with a small tabby cat that could slip into his enclosure with him.

The kink in the line so to speak is that if it was a domestic female with a bobcat male, it would probably result in an injured domestic. If it is a bobcat female with a domestic male, we would never see the kittens because they would be too wild, and learn their mother's elusive ways.

Thats not to say that a bob would not try to harm a domestic cat, but in my experience, that is not the case. Same goes for other animals like cats and dogs.

Sorry for the super long answer, but the simple answer is there isn't really a simple answer...there are a lot of factors in play.

So if bobcats mate with domestic cats, it's kind of odd they eat them too...

Yea it would seem they wouldnt bother each other even if paths were crossed, the only problem would be 2 males that are territorial get together, but they wouldnt eat 1 another and the male domestic would probaly fee before anything happened

 

[kari_dawn]

and even with two territorial males (who, by the way, have female territories overlaping theirs. Smart kitties, ensuring genetic diversity) will not fight to the death, or even to the injury really...bobs are actually super lazy. In all aspects of their lives...especially when it comes to food...which is why anything larger than a squirrel (their very favorite meal ever!) is generally too much effort. Which also causes me to lean more towards mountain lion than bobcat...

 

[cw]

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We will, we will, sheesh! We don't have a trap and traps cost $75-$200. So we're working on building one.

So what is the trap being built of? the diminsions etc..

 

[cw]

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good thinking, but dont forget the chupacobra, a skilled predator found in ky, texas, and cali
O by the way i got to watch a bobcat take a hen turkey back in the spring, i watched as the bobcat hid in a small patch of brush then waited till the turkeys got to him, then bam like lightning he struck, it was over before it started

 

[kari_dawn]

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I totally agree! You need a trap about the dimensions of a smallish dog trap to catch the elusive chupacobra...don't forget to camoflage the trap well, and have a plan (and a camera!) ready when you DO catch him! My personal opinion is to check your local parks and wild website to look for rehabbers that work with the elusive beast!...especially if you accidentally catch that pesky mountain lion...you DONT want to be the one to get that out of the trap!

 

[kari_dawn]

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That is very cool...well, unless the turkey had an owner...sometimes they will be brave and take down something big...if they think they can get away with not expending much energy, and they are pretty sure the catch is a sure thing. We are doing a ton of research on urban vs. rural bobcats, and have found that the differences are amazing.

This is yet another reason why I lean towards mountain lion though...a mountain lion is more likely to actively stalk it's prey, while a bob is more likely to wait for it's food to come to it...

 

[cw]

defintly dont use chicken wire, I wouldnt use hardware cloth either with something that size, ive seen some cool traps made from chainlink and galvenized pipe, a little harder to work with bit no escaping,

 

[cw]

Quote:
That is very cool...well, unless the turkey had an owner...sometimes they will be brave and take down something big...if they think they can get away with not expending much energy, and they are pretty sure the catch is a sure thing. We are doing a ton of research on urban vs. rural bobcats, and have found that the differences are amazing.

This is yet another reason why I lean towards mountain lion though...a mountain lion is more likely to actively stalk it's prey, while a bob is more likely to wait for it's food to come to it...

no this was a wild turkey here, were in a pretty rurual area here, I suggested mt, lion, but the op doest think there are any around, she said she saw scat from it, i kinda wish they would picture that, a whole lot can be learned from that, I always thought that part of cali. was populated pretty heavy by mt lion

 

[cw]

Hey kari, reread the first 2 pages of the thread, wont coyotes leave an area if a mt. lion comes in? the op said the coyotes left and couldnt figure out why? That would be the reason, wouldnt it?