~North American Bobcat~

~Kitty~

I spied this little creature in my backyard today. Usually a nocturnal feline, it does its hunting and foraging at night. This one might have had its daytime nap interrupted by me milling about in my yard. It appears to be a young cat lacking the size and a dislike for humans associated with an adult cat. It is a member of the Lynx family. When this guy matures he will be capable of bringing down a full size deer when the need arises.Though they prefer smaller prey, such as rabbits, squirrels, mice, and birds. An adult bobcat can be 30 inches long and weighs about 35 lbs. But its ferocious hunting style more than makes up for its small stature. It is very aggressive when hunting and can make leaps up to 10 feet to seize its prey. They've even earned themselves a nickname "Spitfires of the Animal Kingdom" because of their fierce hunting style and bold behavior.

I would like to tell a quick story of something that astounded me about a year ago. While going down a local road on my motorcycle I saw a coyote cross the pavement ahead of me and as usual I slowed down, you never know what the might do, as in reverse direction and recross the road. But he kept on going up the hillside, disappearing into the desert brush. As I passed that point I glanced over in his general direction and saw a huge cloud of dust in the bushes. Passing that point I took a look in my rearview mirror and saw the coyote hightailing it back across the road, a plume of dust in his wake. Also in his wake was a bobcat clawing at the desert dogs heels. I guess the coyote was waylaid by a bobcat ambush. I don't know the outcome, they both disappeared down a steep hillside. Not sure who I would root for, both animals had good reasons to succeed!

See ya' tomorrow, TucsonJim ;o)


Big Kitty