Click to hear bobcat sounds Adaptations The bobcats ability to adapt to many different habitats and ranges is what has made it such a successful species. Habitat The bobcat can be found throughout the Sonoran Desert. Range The range of the bobcat is quite large. They can be found from southern Canada, throughout the United States and into northern and central Mexico Wild Status Overall, the population of the bobcat is fairly stable.
Diet Bobcats are carnivores and thus prefer an all meat diet. Predators Predators of the bobcat include mountain lions, coyotes, foxes, owls, wolves, and humans. Home Bobcats will usually change their shelter on a daily basis. Life Span Bobcats can live to be years old in the wild.
Size Bobcats generally weigh between 15 and 30 pounds. Quick Facts Bobcats are found only in North America. Bobcats often ambush their prey by waiting motionless and then pouncing on it. This is the same hunting technique used by the mountain lion. Email Address. Kinney Rd. Adaptations The bobcats ability to adapt to many different habitats and ranges is what has made it such a successful species.
Wild Status Overall, the population of the bobcat is fairly stable. An individual bobcat will usually mark its territory by scratching up or excreting upon some strategically located trees. Of the two sexes, females behave more aggressively toward intruders—especially other females. When threatened by a bigger carnivore, these cats will usually head for the safety of the nearest tree. Climbing among the branches also affords bobcats the opportunity to dine on nesting birds every so often.
The felines have also been known to pounce onto unwary deer from overhanging tree limbs. Able to clear 12 feet in a single bound, the cats can easily jump across narrow waterways. One of them went viral in after it was filmed leaping across a yawning gap in a Louisiana dock that had partially collapsed.
According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife , bobcats can jump fences over 6 feet tall. Bobcats can't always consume their prey in one sitting.
Sometimes, the carnivores use dirt, snow, leaves, or grass to bury the uneaten pieces of especially large corpses, and will return periodically to dig up their leftovers. Unfortunately, burying a corpse won't guarantee that it won't be discovered or nibbled on by other carnivores. Ravens, coyotes, bears, and those aforementioned mountain lions won't hesitate to raid a bobcat's secret stash if the opportunity arises.
Over the past several years, she's been collecting data on bobcats—specifically, those that now reside in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. Here, their population has been steadily rising , particularly in suburban neighborhoods. Far away from Texas, bobcats have also established themselves along the outskirts of Denver and Los Angeles. Interestingly, it looks like this urban lifestyle is turning the cats into night owls.
Research conducted in the Los Angeles area shows that local bobcats are more fully nocturnal than their rural counterparts. This makes the big city felines less likely to encounter humans.
Furthermore, L. Back in the s, the remains of a very young bobcat—which were originally misclassified as a puppy—were discovered beneath a year-old grave in western Illinois.
The plot in question was part of a much larger burial site created by a village aligned with the Hopewell Culture , a widespread group of related peoples who generally lived in small, isolated farming villages.
Traditionally, when someone in a Hopewell community died, the deceased was laid to rest in a burial mound. While dog burials are known, they were in the villages, not the mounds.
I'd give anything to know why. Given these clues, some experts speculate that the animal was once a beloved pet. The earliest known member of the Lynx genus evolved in Africa around 4 million years ago. Known to paleontologists as the Issoire lynx, this creature had a more housecat-like appearance than its modern relatives do, courtesy of the now-extinct cat's shorter limbs and proportionally bigger skull.
Over time, the Issoire lynx spread northward into Eurasia. From there, it crossed the Bering Strait and entered North America. Today's bobcats are descended from these Old World colonizers. Being a hunter doesn't guarantee that you, in turn, will never be hunted. Owls, foxes , and coyotes regularly make off with bobcat kittens. Cannibalism is another big problem for these helpless infants, which are sometimes gobbled up by wandering adults usually males who belong to their own species.
Fully grown bobcats don't have many natural predators, although mountain lions have been known to kill those that encroach on their territory. But in recent years, the short list of carnivores that eat bobcats has grown one entry longer. Since , a Burmese python epidemic has been constricting the Florida Everglades.
For decades, exotic pet owners have released a steady stream of these Asian snakes into the region, where they now thrive. All wildlife populations possess inherent bio-feedback mechanisms that eventually limit population densities. Most species can exhibit classic 'boom and bust cycles'. When this occurs, competition for limited resources compromises the health of the entire population. At that time, the weakened condition of these animals allow density-dependent mortality factors such as starvation, disease, and social strife, to decimate entire populations bust.
Oftentimes, the health of the entire ecosystem including all aligned wildlife species and the public are also negatively impacted by these inflated furbearer populations. Regulated commercial trapping manages populations by moderating the extremes of 'boom and bust' cycles.
This results in stable populations of healthy animals that are in balance with the biological carrying capacity of their ecosystems and the cultural carrying capacity accepted by the general public. Learn more about some of the most commonly trapped furbearers in the United States by clicking on the photos below.
Beaver Fever Giardiasis. Once an animal or person has been infected with Giardia intestinalis, the parasite lives in the intestine and is passed in the stool. Because the parasite is protected by an outer shell, it can survive outside the body and in the environment for long periods of time. During the past 2 decades, Giardiainfection has become recognized as one of the most common causes of waterborne disease found in both drinking and recreational water in humans in the United States.
Giardia are found worldwide and within every region of the United States. The Giardia parasite lives in the intestine of infected humans or animals. Millions of germs can be released in a bowel movement from an infected human or animal.
Giardia is found in soil, food, water, or surfaces that have been contaminated with the feces from infected humans or animals. You can become infected after accidentally swallowing the parasite. Technically, the term furbearer includes all mammals, all of which, by definition possess some form of hair. Typically, however, wildlife managers use the term to identify mammal species that have traditionally been trapped or hunted for their fur.
Furbearers are a diverse group, including both carnivores meat eating predators and rodents gnawing mammals. Most are adaptable species ranging over large geographic areas. A few animals that are normally hunted or trapped primarily for their meat or to reduce agricultural or property damage may also be considered furbearers if their skins are marketed.
Most furbearers possess two layers of fur: a dense, soft underfur that provides insulation and water-repellent qualities; and an outer layer of longer, glossy guardhairs that grow through the underfur, protecting it from matting and abrasion.
A fur is said to be prime when the guardhairs are at their maximum length and the underfur is at its maximum thickness. Fur generally becomes prime in midwinter when the coat is fresh and fully grown; the timing for primeness may vary somewhat depending on species, location latitude and elevation.
Furs are generally tanned, trimmed, and sewn into garments, rugs, blankets and ornaments, and sometimes dyed in a variety of colors and patterns. Furs are also used in fishing lures, fine brushes and other products. Some furs are shaved, and the hair processed into felt for hats and other garments. The fur trade is tightly regulated by state, national and international governing bodies. These regulations cover everything from animal welfare to environmental impact.
Fur is a renewable resource naturally replenished , a product of long traditional use, valued by many for its beauty, durability, insulative and natural qualities. Fur is only one of many values that people ascribe to furbearers.
People have continuously used furbearers in North America for clothing, food and religious ceremonies for the past 11, years.
The sustainable use of renewable natural resources is based on the fact that most species of plants and animals produce more young than their habitat can support to maturity. Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that affects humans and animals. It is caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospira. In humans it causes a wide range of symptoms, and some infected persons may have no symptoms at all. Symptoms of leptospirosis include high fever, severe headache, chills, muscle aches, and vomiting, and may include jaundice yellow skin and eyes , red eyes, abdominal pain, diarrhea, or a rash.
If the disease is not treated, the patient could develop kidney damage, meningitis inflammation of the membrane around the brain and spinal cord , liver failure, and respiratory distress. In rare cases death occurs. Many of these symptoms can be mistaken for other diseases. Leptospirosis is confirmed by laboratory testing of a blood or urine sample.
Outbreaks of leptospirosis are usually caused by exposure to water contaminated with the urine of infected animals. Many different kinds of animals carry the bacterium; they may become sick but sometimes have no symptoms. Leptospira organisms have been found in cattle, pigs, horses, dogs, rodents, and wild animals.
Humans become infected through contact with water, food, or soil containing urine from these infected animals. This may happen by swallowing contaminated food or water or through skin contact, especially with mucosal surfaces, such as the eyes or nose, or with broken skin.
The disease is not known to be spread from person to person. Rabies is a disease caused by the rabies virus. It may take several weeks or even a few years for people to show symptoms after getting infected with rabies, but usually people start to show signs of the disease 1 to 3 months after the virus infects them. The early signs of rabies can be fever or headache, but this changes quickly to nervous system signs, such as confusion, sleepiness, or agitation.
Once someone with rabies infection starts having these symptoms, that person usually does not survive. This is why it is very important to talk to your doctor or health care provider right away if any animal bites you, especially a wild animal. Many kinds of animal can pass rabies to people.
Wild animals are much more likely to carry rabies, especially raccoons, skunks, bats, foxes, and coyotes. However, dogs, cats, cattle cows , or any warm-blooded animal can pass rabies to people.
People usually get rabies from the bite of an infected animal. Many animals, such as dogs, cats, and horses are vaccinated against rabies, but you should always wash any bite thoroughly and check with your health care provider about what to do if any animal bites you. Don't delay calling the doctor! River Otter Restoration. Modern foothold traps these are the same traps used by public trappers have been used to successfully capture river otter and release them unharmed into other areas of the United States to restore otter populations.
Capture and Relocate. Lynx reintroduced to some western states were captured by foothold traps in the Yukon, Canada. Red wolves, Mexican wolves and Grey wolves were captured by foothold traps, examined and relocated to establish new populations. Some are used for captive breeding programs by wildlife officials. Lyme disease is spread by the tiny deer tick. Ticks feed on blood, and infected ticks transmit the disease as they feed.
Although the deer tick prefers to feed on wild animals, especially mice, birds, opossum, raccoon, and deer, they will also feed on dogs, cats, livestock, and humans. When people visit or live near deer tick habitats, they run a high risk of contracting Lyme disease.
For your own safety, you should become familiar with tick habits and habitats, and you should learn how to prevent tick bites. About the Bobcat. Lynx Rufus Order-carnivora Family- felidae. Bobcats are widely distributed throughout the United States and southern Canada in a variety of habitats, from dense forests, to mountains, prairies, farmlands, and even deserts. They are rarely seen in the wild because the species normally travels by walking, and their keen eyesight and hearing are always on the alert for possible danger.
Very capable predators, bobcats hunt by stalking their prey. Litter sizes average 3 kittens. Male bobcats are slightly larger and heavier than females. Most adult males weigh 20 to 22 pounds, while females average 18 to 19 pounds. Individuals may be much larger at times, especially in the northern states where many mature males may weigh 30 pounds. The heaviest recorded bobcat was taken in Maine and weighed 76 pounds.
Bobcats have short tails of 5 to 6 inches in length. The underside of the tail is whitish, and there is a black spot near the end of the tail.
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