Bobcat Hunting

The main method of the Bobcat hunting is stalking the prey. Bobcats can come close to the prey without being noticed because of their tan or brown coat color and spotted pattern, which is an excellent camouflage in the grass. The principal prey species of the Bobcat is the snowshoe hare, but Bobcats are not highly specialized and can hunt any small prey they find. The Bobcat’s diet also includes rabbits, rats, birds, fish and insects. Sometimes, Bobcats come close to farms and raid poultry and even small lambs. Opportunistic predators, like Bobcats, use several hunting techniques according to the type of the prey.

Not every Bobcat hunting is successful. Young Bobcats that have just started their independent life face difficulties with finding food and often starve. Adult Bobcats are able to go without food for several days and then eat much after a successful hunt. When food is scarce, Bobcats try to kill larger animals, like foxes, minks, fawns, and even deer. Like most felines, Bobcats hunt solitary. If they cannot eat the prey, they hide it in the grass and return to it later. As Bobcats tend to scavenge on the remains of the larger predators’ kill, it’s often impossible to determine who actually killed the prey.

Bobcat hunting is a means of rabbits and rodents control. Bobcats are a very important link in the food chain. Without them, rodents and rabbits would do much harm to the ecosystem. Adult Bobcats have no natural predators, but they may be killed by wolves and cougars in fights for food. Bobcat kittens are an easy prey for many predators from foxes to owls. The main causes of deaths among Bobcats are diseases and parasites, starvation and hunting.

Nowadays, this species is considered to be of the least concern, but in the 1970s it was on the brink of extinction in some parts of its habitat. At that time, Bobcats were excessively hunted for their fur, but today, Bobcat fur is no longer fashionable. In Ohio and Indiana, these animals are still endangered, but in other states, their population fully recovered. In urban surroundings, Bobcats are trapped and hunted, because they pose a threat to domestic pets and poultry. Bobcat hunting is allowed under a license in many areas of the USA, Canada, and Mexico.