Bobcat -Furbearer Profile
Seldom seen or heard, this small, spotted cat specializes in the taking of live prey.
Description:
Bobcat are about twice the size of a domestic cat. Their fur is dense, short, and soft. It generally is shorter and more reddish in the summer, and longer and more gray in the winter.
Males are one-third larger than females. The average weight of a mature male is approximately 26 pounds. The average weight of a mature female is approximately 20 pounds.
Distribution and Habitat:
Research showed that bobcat occupied 13,500 square miles (a little more than one-quarter) of New York in the late 1970s. There were three population centers: (1) Adirondack, (2) Catskill, and (3) Taconic. The Adirondack Study area had about 5 bobcats for every 100 square miles of area, while the Catskill area had about 16 bobcats for every 100 square miles of area. Bobcats also occur occasionally in many areas of western New York (and probably breed there).
The most critical features of bobcat habitat are places for refuge and protection, such as ledges. Bobcat often use rocky ledges and rock piles for shelter, breeding, and raising young. Brush piles, hollow trees, and logs are other good structures for resting and dens. Evergreen bogs and swamps, and other secluded places, also fill the bobcat's requirement for refuge and protection.
Bobcat are not present where there are continuous human population centers. However, they can use patches of habitat if the patches are not surrounded completely by urban development.
Behavior:
Bobcat are solitary animals, which may be active at any time, day or night.
Bobcat take any live prey that is available. They often kill the animal by biting its throat, chest, or the base of its skull. Their most important prey are mammals, especially rabbit and hare. Other common prey include large rodents and opossum-sized animals. Bobcat also eat larger animals such as beaver and deer. They will store carcasses for later use.
Research in the late 1970s found that white-tailed deer, rabbit, and hare are the most common items in the diet of bobcat in New York. They eat deer more often during the winter than other times of the year. Deer can be a valuable prey item in areas of deep snow because one carcass lasts for several days.
Males keep larger home ranges than females, and they travel greater distances on a daily basis. The average home range of a male in the Adirondacks is 136 square miles. The average female home range is 33 square miles. In the Catskills, the average male home range is 14 square miles, while the female average is 12 square miles. Home ranges are smaller in areas of good habitat than in areas of poor habitat.
Bobcat begin to breed between mid-January and early February. Some researchers found breeding activities continuing into July. Yearling females can breed. Males breed in their second year. The males probably mate with more than one female.
The average period between breeding and birth of the litter is 62 days, but varies from 50 to 70 days. Most litters are born in April and May, ranging from March through July. Females raise the young alone. There are between 1 and 5 kittens per litter. One litter per year is normal.
Mortality Factors:
Bobcat kittens are killed by foxes, owls, and adult male bobcats. Adults may be injured or killed by their prey animals. The most common cause of death for kittens and juveniles is low food supply. It is not uncommon for an adult to die of starvation, especially during severe winters.
The importance of disease to wild bobcat populations is not well known. Some researchers, however, have suggested that diseases carried by raccoons and feral cats may be an important mortality factor for bobcats. Twelve infectious diseases have been documented in wild bobcat. These diseases include rabies, feline distemper, and feline leukemia. They also carry a variety of parasites including tapeworms, roundworms, and others that are common in their prey species.
Management:
A 1983 publication reports that 47 states in the U.S. had bobcat within their boundaries at that time. Thirteen states had a policy of total protection (no harvest). Thirty states had hunting seasons, while 32 had trapping seasons. Three states, Wyoming, Texas, and North Dakota, allowed year-round harvest.
Many northern New York counties paid bounties on bobcat before 1971. The New York State Legislature passed a law ending the payment of bounties in 1971.
In 1973, a group of 75 countries (including the U.S.) developed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) treaty. CITES made it illegal to export pelts of endangered spotted cats such as cheetah, leopard, and ocelot.
The treaty also included a list of species that had the potential to be affected negatively by the export ban. Bobcat are on this list because they are a spotted cat, and possibly an alternative for the banned pelts.
Although the federal government, under CITES, controls export of bobcat pelts, the states are responsible for management. Bobcat were unprotected in New York until the Legislature gave DEC the authority to set open seasons in 1976. The Department closed a large portion of the state to bobcat harvest after 1976, and started a pelt tagging system for bobcat in 1977.
Hunting has been the dominant harvest method since the 1988-89 season. This likely is because of declining pelt prices and the resultant decrease in licensed trappers.
Although the status of bobcat in New York is stable, the Bureau of Wildlife will continue monitoring bobcat populations to determine whether any important changes occur. Wildlife biologists are developing a "sighting index" based on observations of bobcats by volunteer bowhunters. This information, along with harvest statistics, provide the primary tools for assessing bobcat population trends.
