New Visitor to the Field

[dougd]

I know it's not canoe related but we have a new visitor in the field tonight stalking the ladies, that's what we call all the deer that show up around dusk in my field. We've had them here before, in fact I ended up throwing a piece of 2x4 at a mother that was going after my chickens at the time. Didn't faze the cat for a second but did saunter off. I do love where I live.

dougd

 

[martin2007]

Fantastic! I've seen neither bobcat nor lynx in a natural setting. By the look of its tail, it would be a bobcat, wouldn't it? Thanks for sharing this.

 

[dougd]

I am thinking it is a Bobcat due to its size although I have seen a Lynx out here a while back. A little smaller as I recall but then again I am no expert in identifying critters unless it's a moose!

 

[gumpus]

Awesome pictures and thanks for sharing. That kitty does look confident. I've never seen one in the wild and although I've seen a lot of deer I don't think I've ever seen one totally puffed up like that.

 

[yellowcanoe]

If he pushed that cat would have been toast

 

[dougd]

The encounter lasted a while. There were four deer in the field when the cat showed itself. Three of the more mature deer were snorting like crazy and moving in on the cat in a half circle. They did not act scared for a second during this whole thing. I think I scared it off when I came out to try get pictures. I'm sure it will be back.

 

[PaddlingPitt]

Great pictures, Doug! You’re a lucky guy. I have never seen either a lynx or a bobcat. But my understanding is that a lynx has tufted ears. That means, I think, that your visitor was a bobcat.

https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/lynx-and-bobcat

 

[latremorej]

I agree on the bobcat. Growing up on the north west edge of the 'Dacks, I've had one lucky encounter with what we believe was a lynx... that one was more of a solid tan-ish gray with almost no spotting. the bobcat we had howling every night (creepy) for a few weeks -several years ago- was seen by a few family members (not by me) and according to the story... had defined spots... "almost like a cheeta minus the tail"

awesome photos Doug!

Jason

 

[Gerald]

Great sighting. It looks like a bobcat alright.

Had a pack of 4 beagle hounds back in the 60's and they jumped one hunting black ducks along a small creek running through a field. They caught and killed the poor thing before it was able to reach the woods.

G.

 

[Pringles]

I just looked in Rocky Mountain Natural History. According to that, the bobcat has a black tip on the TOP ONLY of the tail. It may have ear tufts, but are shorter than on a lynx. One of those pictures shows the tail, and what I see seems to have only the black on the top.

I’ve been honored to see two bobcats in the wild. One in Shenandoah NP, and the other just north of Yellowstone. Confident little kitties, they are.

 

[Alan Gage]

That's pretty neat, Doug. I've seen a few but never with a real good look. Usually creeping through the brush down in Arizona and once when driving through Chaco canyon at daybreak I saved a rabbits life when I drove around a bend and spooked both a rabbit at a bobcat out of the brush at the same time. They were less than 10' apart and I'm guessing only one was aware of the other.

Alan

 

[Jim Dodd]

Great pics Doug !

They are working their way back into Iowa, mostly on our Southern borders. They even have a season on them, down there.

I have a pic in an old email, of my oldest Son holding a tranquilized one in his arms. He actually caught it as it fell from a tree. He aid his friends, as they were doing a study, for the Iowa DNR, on them.



Jim

 

[clemency]

Lucky you having deer guard the chickens. All my deer do is eat my wife's garden. :/

 

[Robin]

Nice pics, as a new horse owner there's something about a grassy field that makes me smile.

Beautiful animal.

 

[dogbrain]

It’s great to see those cats in the wild. Nice pictures Doug. I’ve seen a few bobcats, but only one lynx. The thing that really stood out about the lynx was the length of its back legs. When you see one you realize that it and the snowshoe hare are in an evolutionary arms race. Their back ends are almost identical. In addition to the tufts of hair on the ears the lynx has a relatively small head for its body size too.

Mark

 

[lowangle al]

I have seen one bobcat in Pa and quite a few lynx in Ak. In some of the lynx encounters they seemed to have no fear of man. I was lucky to see these guys show up in my yard.

 

[Zac]

Good shots Doug and Al! I have spent most of the years of my life in bobcat country and only once have I seen one that had neither dogs barking behind it nor a fake rabbit squealing in front of it. When I was in middle school I had an amazing experience, a full-on staring contest with one kitty at about 12 feet. Following an older bobcat track through a thick alder swamp, I was stopped at a major game crossroads trying to pick out the next round track when one came trotting down one of the game trail towards me. I remained frozen after I saw it approaching and it did not notice me until it was very close. It stopped abruptly, front right paw frozen in midair, halfway through a step. It met my gaze almost instantly and kept it, unflinching. After at least one full minute I decided to break our stand-off by yelling for my father who was only a hundred yards away with another man, two dogs and the rifle. Thinking back on it today, I was foolish to shout and should have reveled in the moment as long as I could. My intention had been to hurry the chase but more help would have came from my delaying the cat further as the rest of my hunting party was following this cat's tracks already and would have soon discovered where it had bedded as well as fresher tracks heading my way. After bee-lining to the basement of a nearby abandoned homestead well known to hound hunters as home to hibernating porcupines and therefor a safe haven, that cat lived to see another day.