Is this a bobcat

[k0ua]

A mountain lion with a lighter build than a bobcat?

My kid and I went to the zoo today. There were two bobcats, quite active, playing in the snow. We were no more than an inch from them through the glass. They were MAYBE twice the size of our house cat, probably less than twice the size of our house cat. I'd say the bigger one was no more than 25 pounds. Our big house cat was 17 pounds. He's down to 13 now after diet.

Thats a good chart Moss. Notice that the bobcat has stouter looking legs than the regular domestic cat. Domestic cats can have a short tail also, like a Manx or any cat could have lost its tail due to accident, but the overall body build of a bobcat is much stouter looking than most domestic kitty's. Although a Main Coon cat is pretty hefty also.

 

[DrRod]

That's what I meant -- while the mountain lion is bigger, it isn't as stout a build as a bobcat. And the one mountain lion I saw was fairly small, not nearly as big as the ones in the zoo or the western movies.

 

[MossRoad]

Yeah, our big boy has some Maine coon cat in him. Just plain big. :laughing:

 

[mapper]

Had one out near my garden a year or so ago. I was coming out of the shop, we spent a short time looking at each other, about sixty feet apart. I tried to sidle down to the house to get my wife. Had to turn my head for a moment and it was gone. The area it was in was pretty open so it either moved really quick or managed to find something to hide in that it blended in with. I have seen a few paw prints around but that is the only one I have seen here in 38 years. It was pretty cool!