Bobcat Tales

Blog Category
Discover Nature Notes
Published Display Date
Oct 05, 2015
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Despite the profound change from wilderness to developed land, bobcats have managed to remain Midwest residents.

Several hundred years ago, bobcats lived throughout areas with sufficient habitat. In the Midwest, bobcats prefer heavy forests with thick underbrush, broken by rock outcroppings, bluffs, glades, clearings and timbered swamps. They require an extensive range for hunting with features such as thickets, caves and crevices for rest shelters and dens. Individuals post their home ranges with scent places marked by urine and scat.

Bobcats are larger than house cats, and have proportionately longer legs and a much shorter-bobbed tail. They are good swimmers and excellent climbers. Active all year round, they may be up and about by day or night, but they hunt primarily at dawn and dusk. They prey mainly on rabbits, but their diet can include small rodents, squirrels, turkey, quail and deer, especially fawns.

When it hunts, a bobcat relies on its keen eyesight and hearing, rather than smell. It stalks, then pounces on unwary prey.

All About that Bobcat

  • The pupils of the bobcat’s eyes are elliptical in bright light but nearly round in dim light.
  • Bobcats are nocturnal and diurnal. There is little social interaction between individuals.
  • Within their ranges, they can travel between 3 and 7 miles nightly, inspecting many objects as they go.
  • In Missouri, bobcats used to live primarily in the Ozarks and Bootheel, but in recent decades they have expanded westward and northward.
  • Bobcat hides provide a strong leather, but the fur wears poorly. Bans on imported furs from various species of cats outside the United States have generally caused a greater demand on bobcat pelts.

Find out more about bobcats with the MDC’s Field Guide.

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