Bobcat is back... and he's all grown up

[Bonniebooboo]

Not to be confrontational but...60 lbs? Wouldn't that be a world record?

I am pretty sure some others have caught one that large. (probably not real often). Think mostly they harvest the fur and not looking for world record status. Who knows maybe he was a mutant, but a good looking healthy one.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

I am pretty sure some others have caught one that large. (probably not real often). Think mostly they harvest the fur and not looking for world record status. Who knows maybe he was a mutant, but a good looking healthy one.

Largest acknowledged bobcat weight was 48.2lbs. There have been unconfirmed reports of 60-70lbs specimens all over the country but that is usually the size of a Eurasian lynx.

 

[Bonniebooboo]

I know what you mean about ignorance is bliss, unfortunately I had a live show of a bobcat chasing one of my hens but all was well. Also I knew a mountain lion with her cub was around the hood, 2 days later I saw their tracks right in front of my porch... dog wouldn't come out of her house lol smart one lol

Here is the supposed mountain lion tracks, much scarier to me than my bobcat encounter but no desire to see either one up close

View attachment 1684587

I hope you don't have to encounter the mountain lion. that is scary for sure. in the picture of the prints, I see claw marks. cats don't leave claw marks like that. their nails are retracted, unlike dogs, coyotes, etc.

 

[centrarchid]

Better example than Gray Wolf posted previously. Images show extensive range overlap between individuals, especially when of different sex. Bobcat very likely to mirror Mountain Lion than mirror Gray Wolf. Gray Wolf data I would love to who within pack was tagged.

https://www.nps.gov/samo/learn/nature/pumapage.htm

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

https://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/3380.htm

About bobcats and their strict territorial social structure. More like wolves or tigers than cougars.

 

[centrarchid]

https://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/3380.htm

About bobcats and their strict territorial social structure. More like wolves or tigers than cougars.

No science, why not really worth effort to discuss

 

[Kris5902]

Well, it did clear up one thing for me at least... “catamount” was the term for Cougar I was mixing up with “bobcat” from the earlier post! That said... best of luck trapping that monster, it looks huge (sure it’s not a small cougar?) and I’m glad to hear your run sounds fairly impenetrable.

I’d have a plan (gun) just in case it does manage to clear the fencing and gets entangled in your netting... it’s unlikely, but would be scary to have to deal with early in the morning or late at night.

I had a scare from a 3pt buck one night, I went out to close up the barn door and startled him, around dusk. I heard the hooves pounding as he ran straight past me only a few feet away. What does this have to do with a bobcat, you ask? Well, my father in law was trying to protect a plum tree from birds, and did a half-a**ed job of putting up bird netting. After the “running past me really close at full speed”, the second most startling thing about the buck was his bright green headdress. It took him over a month to get it off his antlers, but I never got a decent picture of him (funny how you can easily get within five feet of deer here, so long as you don’t point at them or wear camo!) Netting is still sort of over parts of the tree... yet another thing on the list of many to fixes around here.

 

[centrarchid]

https://bioone.org/journals/the-ame...0003-0031(2001)146[0043:SOOBLR]2.0.CO;2.short

 

[centrarchid]

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2426706?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

 

[My1stChickens]

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2426706?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Interesting article-- thanks for sharing this.
There's a trap at the back of my property now. Biggest trap I've ever seen-- 4'wide, 4' tall, 6' long. There's a separate area at the back for the bait rooster. It's VERY safe. Before a week was up, there was a bobcat in the trap. Rooster was fine, and actually talkative. I think he thinks he was the victor?
But, the bobcat in the trap is not as big as the one on the game camera, so the trap is still out there. I don't know how long the guy will leave it there but there have been 3 sightings of a cat bigger than the one that was trapped. Last sighting was 2/21 so it's been a month. I secretly hope someone else trapped it, or something else happened so that it won't be back, but I don't know how long it would normally be for a cat to come back to this part of his territory.

Chickens are more trouble to keep alive than I ever anticipated.