Bobcat in Yard This Morning

[Runner]

A bobcat paid me a visit this morning. He hung out by my apple trees for awhile, eyeing something in the neighbor's horse pen. He jumped the fence and went into the horse pen, then, one of the horses charged him and he jumped back into my yard. I then shot this pic and he took off the other direction.

I've seen them around here before, but they usually don't come this close to the house. He was about medium-dog sized.

 

[cowboy357]

Thats a perty healthy looking cat , I,d bet someones missing a few Chickens . Bob

 

[jinman]

Nice Bobcat! Is it just me or does it have a longer tail than normal? The bobcats and coyotes are why we keep our kitties in the garage at night. Just because you don't see them often doesn't mean they aren't there. Are you in a completely rural or partially urban area? My buddy who lives in town near a greenbelt zone says that several of his neighbors have reported seeing a bobcat. I think they can become urbanized just like coyotes. Once they find an easy source of food, they'll be back. I wonder what got his attention in your neighbor's horse pen?

 

[Runner]

jinman,

We are in Kansas City. Our place looks kind of "rural" but has some subdivisions close by. In our immediate vicinity are a number of homes on 5 to 10 acre parcels. Definitely not "out in the country".

I coudn't see anything in the horse pen and he didn't have anything in his mouth when he came back over the fence, so not sure what he was after.

There's definitely lot's for him to eat around here: mice, squirrels, ground hogs, rabbits, snakes, etc.

Come to think of it, my neighbor keeps her dog chained up in the area the cat was perusing. Her dog looks like an Australian shepard and is about the same size as the cat.

I wonder if a bobcat could/would kill a dog that size?

 

[LBrown59]

I've lived in the same place in OH where I was bornded all my life.
Have never seen a bob cat or wild cat around here.

 

[orezok]

I've posted these pictures before, but I enjoy seeing these magnificent animals. For size comparison, the wood block in the picture behind the cat is a 6x6.

 

[NSBound]

A bobcat paid me a visit this morning. I shot this pic and he took off the other direction.

Neat animal, and good shot! I touched up your pic a bit .

 

[Therios Pendragon]

At first, I was skeptical that this was, indeed, a Bobcat. I grew up in the mountains of Los Alamos New Mexico and have seen a few wild as well as a cougar. I had never seen one with such a long tail. I kind of weirded me out a little.

So I did some web searches and found this picture... looks like your Bobcat could have posed for this shot. You can also see the little white ear tuft on the far ear.

Nice shot indeed!

Here is the link to the brother cat to yours.

Google Image Result for http://www.citruscounty-fl.com/images/Bobcat.jpg

 

[jinman]

We are in Kansas City. Our place looks kind of "rural" but has some subdivisions close by. In our immediate vicinity are a number of homes on 5 to 10 acre parcels. Definitely not "out in the country".

Runner, I live in an area that's a little more rural than yours and we are surrounded by probably 400 acres of woods. Our tracts here are 10-15 acres, but only about 1/3 of them have residents actually living here. I have seen bobcats twice, once right in my yard. I think he was looking for a meal under my portable building. It was mid-afternoon and he just trotted off into the woods.

I don't think a bobcat would go after a dog, but in a horse pen, you never know what could be burrowing underground. A bobcat can hear and smell from a long distance away. The squeaking of an underground rodent or it's young in a nest could easily have been what he was after. You'll probably never know for sure.

 

[Ron D.]

We have bobcats and my area has become very urbanized over the past ten years. A large regional retail center just went in about a half a mile from my back fence, new city offices about a quarter of a mile away, and a new middle school about a half mile, subdivision all around, and a small area of woods with a creek. The cats are in the wooded area in the day and look for stuff to eat at night around here. Neighbors have recently gotten chickens and that's when we started seeing the cats.

He has put a manaquin (not sure I spelled that right) against his fence to scare the cats. Not sure if it works on the cats, but I can tell you it scared the heck out of me when I first saw it.

I watch my dogs pretty close because of the possible danger, and you might want to warn your neighbor. A cat like that can make short work of many dogs. I also try and be careful like looking in the barn before I walk into it.

All things being considered, however, I appreciate the wildlife and would much rather deal with these types of issues than worrying about being robbed at gunpoint driving into my driveway.

And, great picture.