I had a great encounter with a Bobcat today

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Ted
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I had a great encounter with a Bobcat today

Post by Ted »

Saw this Bobcat today, it walked right past me! I've had a few close encounters but I could've reached out and touched this one! It was a bit small, I don't think it was a full adult yet.

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Bobcat by Ted306, on Flickr
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JAMAUGHN
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Re: I had a great encounter with a Bobcat today

Post by JAMAUGHN »

It looks deep in thought...

Cool sighting!
JimM
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Neil M
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Re: I had a great encounter with a Bobcat today

Post by Neil M »

Sweet find! I love seeing bobcats close up but beware, I have seen one stalk/follow my mom for 100 yards or so!
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gbin
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Re: I had a great encounter with a Bobcat today

Post by gbin »

Bobcats might follow a person for a bit out of curiosity, but I've never heard of anyone - be they male or female, young or old - ever being attacked by one. Generally, loose pets are even fairly safe around them (unlike around coyotes).

I agree with Jim. What was that bobcat pondering so hard? Thanks for sharing the sighting with us, Ted!

Gerry
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soulsurvivor
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Re: I had a great encounter with a Bobcat today

Post by soulsurvivor »

Beautiful photo!
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PNWHerper
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Re: I had a great encounter with a Bobcat today

Post by PNWHerper »

That's incredible!

Ted,

You guys have it good with the bobcats in CA. Ours in the Pacifc NW are really elusive, and hardly ever in the open.

I wonder if this animal is older than you may have first thought, because I see some significant scarring on the nose, a little bit near the eye and on the ears. They usually earn those over the years, and this one has some good ones.
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Ted
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Re: I had a great encounter with a Bobcat today

Post by Ted »

I haven't heard on a single attack on a human before myself. The few Bobcats I've found were very docile and more or less ignored me completely. They are a bit easier to find around here, but I usually have horrible luck with finding any mammals larger than a squirrel so my sightings are few and far between.

As far as the age, I think it was on the younger side because the other ones I have seen in the same area tend to be much larger. In fact, this one was not much larger than a pet cat (Which I initially mistook it for). Maybe it's just a bit smaller than the other adults.
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Josh Holbrook
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Re: I had a great encounter with a Bobcat today

Post by Josh Holbrook »

Beautiful! I love wild felids. . . I think it's guilt because of a deep hatred for feral cats. Thanks for posting!
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PNWHerper
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Re: I had a great encounter with a Bobcat today

Post by PNWHerper »

Thought I would mention this book on this thread:

http://www.amazon.com/Behavior-American ... l+behavior

Its a really neet new book about animal behavior. I will be acquiring my own copy in the near future. Mark Elbroch, who is one of the authors is also an excellent tracker and author of several wildlife tracking books.

There is quite a bit of new behavior information in the book that goes beyond the scope of the old Peterson's Guide to Mammals. I haven't read all of it, but the species accounts I have read all the way through were rather impressive. Definitely a book to have in the personal library.
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