Bobcat sighting - first of the year

[mfaley]

I was coming back from the barn late last night after doctoring my wife’s good horse and tucking the herd into bed. It’s about 700’ between the barn and the house, and we don’t have any lights on our service road. I looked up and saw something dark moving through the shadows. At first, I thought it was our dumb dog so I whistled just as he was stepping into the moonlight. I turned out not to be the dumb dog at all but a bobcat.

There are few things in the world that make me happier than seeing nature get along despite everything man does to get rid of them.

That being said, I was even happier when I headed up the hill this morning to doctor and feed. Early in the morning I tend to move pretty slowly otherwise I don’t think I would have seen, what I think was, the same bobcat drop off the side hill onto the road and amble up the road. I kept walking, enjoying the early morning coolness, the sound of the birds waking up, the horses starting to shuffle around in anticipation of their breakfast and this very healthy looking bobcat walking up the road without a care in the world.

At some point I must have scuffed a foot because the bobcat looked around at me with a look mixed with, what I think, was surprise, curiosity and disgust, before he left the road and was gone in a couple of bounds.

Our area is building up and it’s been a while since I have seen a posse of coyotes out on a hunt or a fox darting into the berry bushes so it’s these rare moments that make life really worthwhile for me.

Mark

[Hank]

<font color="purple"> a posse of coyotes </font color>

That would be a pack, or a rout, of coyotes [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

I found this neat web site that lists the names of male, female, baby and group for various species of animal.

(a coalition of cheetahs; a parliament of owls ??)

[Pat]

or a murder of crows...

I saw my first bobcat of the season yesterday. It was standing in the road within 50 feet of our mailbox/gate/driveway entrance just shortly after sunrise. the long shadows and some unautorized road repairs I donated to the county masked its shape. As I drove up from a quarter mile away I first thought maybe turkey in the road since we hear oodles of gobble gobble every day now. When I got within 50 yds I made it out clearly as a bobcat as it exited stage right into the roadside bushes at a medium speed (3 on a scale of a bobcats 10.)

We don't see them often even though we have a resident population that either is headquartered on our property or very near it but we have a few (single digit) sightings per year. The closest mid day sighting was one hunting in the pasture less than a hundred yds from my mom's house. I think it was not quite full grown. They are safe from me if they don't stake out any bird feeders as a "fast food" outlet.


[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[mfaley]

Hank,
Interesting link. There are a lot of names on there that I was not aware of although I was aware of coyotes being a pack. I tend to refer to them as a posse just because thats how it stricks me. I am no expert but it sure seems that, sometimes, when they pack up they are just out looking for whatever trouble they can cause and not specifically hunting. Sort of the same way a gaggle of cows laying down eating their cud makes more sense to me than a herd. But thats just me..... [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Pat,
We used to have more sightings than we do now. More houses, more dogs, more ATV's/motorcycles in the open areas. I am pretty sure when the combined 1,000 acres across the street from us is developed we wont see them any more. Hopefully that does not happen soon.

Mark

[Pat]

Mark, Trust me... if coyotes are out in a pack it is to conduct coyote buisness, not pull pranks. They are oportunistic feeders and will eat what they can find, solo, or in a pack.

Two different friends have recently told me of coyote/newborn calf problems. Coyotes, especially as a pack will menace a newborn but few healthy calves are lost to coyotes around here. Pet dogs and strays packing up are many times worse than coyotes. Around here many folks have a zero tollerance for strange dogs running at large on their place. Untill you actually witness a cow down on the ground with 4-5 dogs (most or all with tags indicating they are someones pet) attacking it, you would probably not believe how wild and vicious these wolves bred to look different are.

If roaming dogs were eliminated the predation of coyotes would not be a big deal. Many of the "good ole boys" just won't believe that it is more often dogs than coyotes that are causing problems. They really don't want to believe that their dog would ever run in a pack but most will if the right circumstances present themselves. When a dog is in a pack it is like men in a mob, violence escolates rapidly.

By the way, a neighbor had a bobcat start to climb the tree that he was in at the time in his tree stand. The cat beat a hasty retreat when he realized the tree was already "OCUPADO."

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[mfaley]

"Many of the "good ole boys" just won't believe that it is more often dogs than coyotes that are causing problems."

Very true from my perspective and I have seen dogs pack up and worry livestock. A guy down the street swears his lab would never do that but I have seen that same dog, with others, getting after cattle.

That’s funny about a bobcat climbing a tree with someone in it. I can just imagine looking down and seeing a chunky thing like that headed my way.
Mark

[Pat]

As we are 12 miles from the nearest town with populaton over 500 and 25 miles to a town over 3500 (entire zipcode including out of the city limits.) We are considered OUT IN THE COUNTRY and tend to have more than our share of dumped animals, including dogs. Here cattlemen pretty much assume any dog on their property is subject to summary execution if they deem it appropriate. Dogs are worse than kids at running wild when in groups.

Dogs are not evolved from wolves... THEY ARE WOLVES. They may have been selectively bred for various physical and personality traits but they are IN FACT still wolves and act it, especially when in a pack.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]