Predators of the bobcat include owls, eagles, coyotes, foxes, as well as other adult male bobcats, which prey on kittens. Diseases, accidents, hunting, automobiles, and starvation also contribute to their mortality rate.
Hunters, farmers, politicians, and conservationists have differing opinions on the role predators should be allowed to play, which is why it is important to gain an understanding of their abundance, behavior, and role in our habitat and communities. There is a great deal of misunderstanding about carnivores, their impacts, and their ecological role.
Having bobcat populations across the state is a good thing, but it can generate questions about livestock predation, safety of pets and impacts on game birds.
Conflicts between bobcats and livestock are rare. A report on the diet of bobcats in Illinois found they preferred prey such as rabbits and small mammals, rather than birds. The research on their diet noted the following stomach content of 91 bobcats in Illinois — small rodents Woolf and Nielsen The bobcat in Illinois. Research can help us better understand bobcats as they expand into urban areas due to lack of habitat and as their population grows. That research was limited to the southern region of the state.
Bobcats pose little risk to humans. The natural response of a bobcat is to flee from humans. Small dogs or cats could be at risk, but bobcats are not likely to go after pets. The best thing you can do is to not leave your dogs unattended outdoors or let your dogs roam indepently. Domestic cats should always be kept inside.
If you come across a bobcat in your yard or elsewhere, give it space. Yelling and making noise will generally chase it away. Problems with poultry that cannot be resolved by improving fencing or implementing recommendations from a biologist could require a nuisance animal permit.
Bobcats are territorial and generally solitary animals. A member of the Lynx taxon, which is characterized by tufted ears and short tails, they are found throughout North America.
Adult bobcats are about twice as large as a domestic cat, standing 20 inches to 30 inches at the shoulder. Adult weights range from 10 to 40 pounds, with males being about one third larger than females. They live an average of 12 years in the wild and begin reproducing at about two years of age. Although the figures convinced state officials to remove bobcats from Illinois' threatened species list in , hunting, trapping and the keeping of bobcats is still prohibited.
Woolf says such protections, enacted in , are helping bobcats rebound in a big way. During the study, which was funded by the Department of Natural Resources' federal aid to wildlife restoration dollars, Woolf and his staff staked out a square-mile area in Union and Jackson counties, where bobcats are abundant. With the help of more than 50 landowners and 15 volunteer trappers, cages were set out and foothold traps baited with road kill.
Researchers then waited for elusive bobcats to show up. Captured bobcats were weighed, measured and checked for health problems. Of the 99 bobcats captured, 76 were fitted with radio collars, giving scientists a chance to track their movements and learn more about their lifestyles over a two-year period.
A year's tracking data shows 80 percent of the bobcats survived. This trend is supported by intensive studies in the southern third of the state, where the number of bobcats increased from 2, in to 3, by Today, it is estimated that as many as 5, bobcats occur in the state. For those who think that bobcats are adorable, and would make a wonderful house-pet, consider this:. News Talk Riley O'Neil Updated: August 17, Share on Facebook Share on Twitter. The answer, in a word, is yes.
It could happen here in Illinois.
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