My first kitty

[hondo1892]

I've had trail cams out since 2006 and never had one photo of any bobcats until now. I seen tracks back when I first bought my place and thought they were bobcat but never seen any or trail cam photos. Put out what was left of a deer carcass I shot this fall and put the trail cam on it. Usually get buzzards and coyotes and a fox or two. But this year this kitty showed up the second night.

[spaceman spiff]

Last week on the way to work during a fairly heavy snow I saw 3 Bobcats crossing my road.
What impressive cats I had never seen a single cat in all my time in the woods. Quite a treat.



spaceman

[AJMD429]

Not needing zip code or street address, but what general part of the nation do you hail from...???

We're seeing them again in Indiana on occasion; haven't seen any myself since the 1960's.

[hondo1892]

Doc we live in central Kentucky. Lots of cats but I've never seen any before. But we just moved here also.

[Paladin]

Never gotten any photos but watched a few Bobcats in the wild in WV over the years funny to watch in wet snow.

[7.62 Precision]

Price is up on those pelts, it seems.

[TDF]

Had one show up on my trail cam a few years ago. Only ever got one photo of him (or her). I'd set the camera up to watch a deer scrape that was near an edge of a field. Oddly enough the cat appears to be urinating in the middle of the scrape. Guess he figured the deer should know he was in the neighborhood. I'm just on the outskirts of Lincoln NE and got the photo about 9pm, a couple of hundred yards from my house. I let my dog run loose right before bedtime then call him in for the night. Thankfully he's never ran into Bob. He's not smart enough to back down, and I'm not sure how he'd fare in a fight against a Bobcat. Sixty plus pound boxer mix or not, those cat's are tough customers.

TDF

[Old Ironsights]

They make crackerjack pets (if hand raised). Had a neighbor who had one when I was a kid. Knew some folks in NE who hand raised them for an Exotics Breeder.

Very devoted to One or Two people - will learn to tolerate other family members, and be a burglar's worst nightmare.

[hondo1892]

I've gotten more photo's of a cat since the first. This one acts like it's king of the carcass. This guy or girl doesn't seem very scared of the coyotes either. I think I'm going to try to trap him. At least try to get some of the coyotes.

[Stan in SC]

I have seen very few bobcats in my time in the woods.I see pictures all the time of ones that hunters have shot.I personally will not shoot what I consider a "natural" predator be it fox or bobcat.Coyotes are invasive so they get automatic death sentence.
Except for the pelt I cannot see why someone would shoot either a fox or bobcat.

Stan in SC

[7.62 Precision]

I personally will not shoot what I consider a "natural" predator be it fox or bobcat.Coyotes are invasive so they get automatic death sentence.
Except for the pelt I cannot see why someone would shoot either a fox or bobcat.

I have no problem with shooting predators. I have seen the results of population booms and crashes, and it is not pretty. Today we manage prey populations through hunting, so we need to manage the predator populations as well.

All of our predators up here are natural, except for foxes in some areas where they were introduced by fur farmers. Yet they can be as much or more of a problem than an invasive species if left unhunted. Wolves and bear will wipe out prey species if they overpopulate in some areas, and then they all starve. And there are a lot of people that depend on hunting those same prey species to live.

Contrary to popular belief, many of these predators do very well around human populations, some better than they would in a completely natural environment. They can cause all kinds of problems, including devastation of livestock, spread of disease, attacks on humans, property destruction, etc.

If bear are not hunted by humans, they become hunters of humans. The same can happen with wolves, not as commonly, but even worse when wolves breed with dogs. I was backed up by big aggressive foxes once in Dutch Harbor. I was trying to walk down a road in broad daylight and they would not let me pass. I have no doubt if I had gone any closer I would have been attacked.

Many people have some sort of romantic and unrealistic attachment to predators, maybe because we are predators, but in many cases, we can manage the predators or they will be unmanageable.

No matter why a predator is killed, whether trapped for its pelt, killed to protect livestock, killed in defense of life or property, or for management purposes, I would take issue with someone killing a predator and not taking the pelt or hide, at least, except for extreme circumstances.


I shot this fox . . . .with a camera. I was not set up at the time to care for the pelt, so I did not shoot any of several foxes that were sniffing at my heels for a couple weeks while I was working. Could have killed them with a rock.

[hondo1892]

7.63 your right but I didn't want to stir the pot. I have my way of thinking and others have there's. That's how I try to leave things. Most of the time it turns into an argument and no minds change just people go away mad. By the way how's the pain doing? Hope it completely heals.

[jeepnik]

It's not a wonder the cat shows no fear of the yotes. Even in small packs, coyotes know better than to tangle with one.

[Old Ironsights]

It's not a wonder the cat shows no fear of the yotes. Even in small packs, coyotes know better than to tangle with one.

Having been "pounced" by a Tame (and declawed) Bobcat that weighed nearly as much as me (at the time), I can't say I disagree with the pack.

(Wrestling with a Cat that weighs as much as you can be described as a "formative" experience...)