Bobcats

I grew up in the country, occasionally hearing the cry of a bobcat. The older I got, the less I heard of them, and I rarely thought of them at all. Then, one night, I sat quilting in an outbuilding I'd turned into a hobby room. I heard an awful commotion, and I recognized my cat's cry. She sounded like something was wrong. I went to the sliding glass door. Something had her treed, but I couldn't see what it was in the dark. I assumed it was a tom from the sounds. I'd just started through the door, when a large bobcat dropped out of the tree. I immediately stepped back inside and closed the door. He stood for a moment, looked right at me, and then took off in the other direction.

Bobcats are the most common wild cats in North America and found throughout most of it. In parts of the Appalachians the critters are called "wildcats." Of course, the name "bobcat" comes from its short, bobbed-looking tail. They vary in color from gray to beige to brown with markings of dark brown or black. Approximately one million bobcats are estimated to still live in the wild. They mainly eat rabbits and rodents but also birds, bats, and even small deer. If a farm or ranch is convenient, they may also kill some of the small animals there.

These animals tend to be solitary and establish a territory. Within that territory, they have a main den and perhaps a few others as well. The main den is usually in a protected area, like a cave, rocks, hollow log, etc. Kittens are normally born in the early spring, and a litter has from 1 - 6 kittens most of the time. The kittens will start eating solid food around two months old and learn to hunt at about six months. Sometime between eight and eleven months, the mother will evict them from her territory, and they will have to find their own.

The day the one dropped out of the tree and stared at me, I was glad he didn't seem any more eager to confront me than I did him. But he was a beautiful creature.

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