46 Interesting Facts about Bobcat | What Does Look Like?
Bobcats were first found in the southern portion of North America. This exquisite and furtive cat is an excellent hunter. Due to having a short tail, its name is bobcat. According to several studies, they were first discovered around 1.8 million years ago during the Irvingtonian stage. There are many interesting facts about bobcat that will tackle your mind and feel like you should have known them earlier. If you are wondering how to know more about bobcat, just go through the post.
46 Interesting Facts about Bobcat that Nobody Knows
What Does a Bobcat Look Like?
No#1: Similar to Lynx
Bobcats are similar to Lynx though they are a little bit smaller than Lynx.
No#2: Wrong identification
Many people mistake Bobcats for other types of animals. Sometimes, this small animal can be mistaken for stray kittens or domestic cats.
No#3: Eating habits
Though bobcats are capable of eating deer, they mainly love to eat small prey like rabbits or rodents. Apart from that, they also eat fish, sharks, household pets, or even unsecured chickens occasionally.
No#4: Personal territory
Bobcats have their own territory, and they don’t like to share their solitary life with other same-sex bobcats. Male bobcats cover around 25 square miles, while female bobcats have only around 6 square miles.
No#5: More than one den
Unlike other animals, bobcats own more than one den in their territory. But they also have the main den too, which name is the natal den.
No#6: Young bobcats learn hunting from their mother
Mother of young bobcats teaches them how to hung small prey after passing 2-3 months.
No#7: Only 11 months of living with mom
A young bobcat can only 11 months in his mother’s territory; after that, he will have to find his own territory.
No#8: 12 species of Bobcats
There are around 12 species of bobcats living around the world.
No#9: Biggest bobcat in the world
The weight of the biggest bobcat is 76 pounds, discovered from Maine.
No#10: Oldest bobcat
Captive bobcats have a longer lifespan than wild bobcats. Wild bobcats had a record of living 16 years, while the oldest captive bobcat lived 32 years.
Bobcat Facts for Kids
No#11: Bobcats location
Canada, the western USA, Mexico are the primary location where many species of bobcats live.
No#12: Quick running habit
Bobcats can run very fast, up to 30 mph—they mainly run fast to hunt prey within a short distance.
No#13: Hunting condition
Wild bobcats hunt before dawn or after sunset. They track down preys’ activities and alter their sleeping habit based on them.
No#14: Lifting more weight
A fully-grown bobcat can lift up to 250 pounds weight or more though they mainly hunt fairly small creatures.
No#15: Good at climbing
Bobcats are excellent climbers; they can go to the peak point of trees while hunting nesting birds or saving themselves from bigger carnivores.
Good Thing for Bobcats
No#16: Hiding their hunting objects
Bobcats don’t like to show up their kill. They often use different objects like grass, dirt, leaves, or snow to cover up the body parts that are uneatable for bobcats.
No#17: Showing up on some cities
For the last few years, bobcats have become a common sight in some cities, especially in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, the outskirts of Denver, and Los Angeles.
No#18: Threat for bobcats
Having a reputation as a hunter does not guarantee your protection from being hunted. Lions, wolves, owls, and pythons are the major threat to bobcats.
No#19: A wide array of habitats
Bobcats have different habitats like brushland, mountain forests, mountains, and semi-deserts.
No#20: Average life expectancy
How Big can Bobcats get
The average life expectancy for a wild bobcat is around seven years. However, it is reported that bobcats can live up to 10 years in the wild.
No#21: Sleeping areas
Bobcats prefer to sleep in unseen areas like rocky crevices, carnivorous trees, or bushes.
No#22: Great vision and hearing power
Just like other cats, bobcats have exceptionally good eyesight and incredible hearing power. Also, they have a prominent sense of smell.
No#23: A swimmers too!
Bobcats are capable of swimming, but they don’t do it unless an emergency arises.
No#24: Unique communication system
Bobcats use vocalizations, scents, or visual signals when they want to communicate with others. During the breeding season, they also make a wide array of yowling sounds for communication.
No#25: Similar mating system like cats
Like domestic cats, bobcats follow a similar mating system. Both males and females get together for only a short period for mating and courtship. During mating season, they have at least two mates.
No#26: Different coat for bobcats
Bobcats coating color varies from one location to another —for example, bobcats living in the southwest of North America have the lightest coat.
Fun Facts about Bobcats
No#27: Total bobcats
Approximately the total number of bobcats in the wild ranges between 725,000 to 1,020,000, but it is not 100% accurate.
No#28: No direct effect of human presence
Until an area becomes massively cultivated, human populations are unable to really curb the range of a bobcat.
No#29: Can’t live in snow weather
Bobcats can’t live in snow or foggy weather as they lack thick fur coats. That’s why they are unlikely to be seen in all areas of Canada due to snowfall.
No#30: An active creature
Bobcats, known as nocturnal animals, are super active during little-light or no-light conditions for hunting. They stay active at least three hours prior to sunset till late at night. Also, they woke up at least three hours earlier to sunrise and stay active till 3 hours after the sunrise.
Weird Fact of Bobcats
No#31: High jumping ability
A bobcat can jump up to 12 feet long.
No#32: Average Walking session
Every night, a bobcat, on average, walks 3 kilometers to 12 kilometers.
No#33: Overlapping power
It is interesting to note that female bobcats are less tolerant of overlap than male bobcats.
No#34: Sexual maturity
Bobcats need only two years to become fully sexually mature. However, female bobcats may get sexual maturity after one year.
No#35: Mating time
Though geographic location heavily affects bobcat mating time, they mainly mate during February and March.
No#36: Gestation period
In a typical pregnancy period, female bobcats take around 60 to 70 days for gestation.
No#37: Eating habit
Generally, a normal adult bobcat eats 2-3 KG of meat every day. However, they can also survive without food for several days.
Important fact about Bobcats
No#38: Hunting techniques
Bobcats don’t use the same techniques for all types of prey. Instead, they implement different hunting styles based on the prey size and ability. They walk or run furtively through brush and bushes with merely making any sound to hunt prey easily.
No#39: A restriction of hunting bobcats
Though bobcats are not seriously at risk of extinction, there are still some restrictions for hunting and trading them.
No#40: Unfriendly with human beings
Bobcats are not social animals though they are pretty curious like normal pet cats. They don’t like to come close to human beings; they run away from the place whenever they see any people.
No#41: Sharp teeth
Though bobcats have a similar body structure to pet cats, they have very sharp teeth for hunting and eating meat. They have around 28 teeth, and out of them, 4 are canine teeth to chew and shred meat.
No#42: Bobcats kittens
Bobcats give birth 1-6 kittens at a time. The kitten can’t open their eyes after birth; it takes more than ten days for the kittens to open their eyes.
No#43: Kittens foods
Initially, bobcats’ kittens only depend on their mother’s milk for surviving. After passing two months, they start to eat solid foods — they are trained for hunting when five months passed.
No#44: An essential part of Native American culture
Native American takes bobcats as a symbol of their culture to portray duality.
No#45: Walking in direct register
Bobcat’s hind feet always land on top of the front feet, while the front feet always land on top of the hind feet. Bobcats walk oversteps and signs the sides of each hind foot in just front of the corresponding foot.
No#46: Staying in their location
Though bobcats don’t like snowfall weather, they don’t change their location.
Conclusion
Isn’t it fun to these vibrant and interesting facts about Bobcat? This medium-sized wild cat is also known as red Lynx because many of us often take it as a domestic cat. Hopefully, you have enjoyed learning about bobcats.
