Bobcats are not rare on Chico Basin Ranch and although they are not tame they usually don’t run away if you stand still. They have few predators on the plains which might explain why this bobcat did not run while I watched. Bobcats move about during low light levels, emerging from one of their multiple dens about three hours before dusk and then again about an hour before sunrise. Prey items might include rodents and birds, squirrels and rabbits, but they can take down small deer too. Hunting is by stealth and during a chase, a bobcat easily jumps 10 feet in a leap.

At the hairdresser, a short haircut might be called a bob, a phrase referencing the short, 6 or 7 inch tail of a bobcat. Both bobcats and their very close relative, Canada lynx have the same genus name, Lynx rufa for bobcat and Lynx canadensis is the name of the larger species with the much larger feet who lives in the mountains. On occasion these two related species hybridize and offspring are are given the name blynx.

Although I have been hissed at by female bobcats (probably with kittens nearby) there are no records of bobcats attacking humans although female bobcats are aggressive towards other female bobcats.