By Judy McCarthy
Beginning late February and continuing through March, bobcats are often sighted in our neighborhoods. This is their mating time, and during these late winter and early spring months, they are diurnal rather than nocturnal. Even if we are not blessed with a sighting or able to take photos like these captured by Kevin and Connie Carey at their home on Olde Farms Road in Grantham, bobcat tracks are often clearly visible in the snow.
As with others in the cat family, the front track is usually round and the hind tracks are oval, like those of the coyote. The bobcat has five toes on the front foot and four on the back, but the imprint of the front is usually just four because the fifth toe is raised up on the leg. Because its nails are retractable, there is no imprint.
March is a very noisy month in our part of the world: bobcats and other mating mammals can be loud! In fact, the piercing scream of a bobcat can be heard a mile away. A male’s courting ritual involves a lot of chasing, bumping and ambushing. When he manages to attract a receptive female, he grasps her around the neck to start the proceedings.
Whether this particular bobcat, which hung around the Carey house for at least 15 minutes on March 8, was celebrating a union or simply getting ready, we don’t know. It may have been catching some morning rays or planning the day, but it also took time to groom itself and stretch languorously. It was spied coming out from under their porch, which has been a passageway for other animals. After its command performance right outside their window, it retreated back under the porch only to re-emerge a few seconds later and head diagonally up their backyard hill.
Kevin says, “It seemed confident and in command of its surroundings at all times,” which is, of course, the reason it tarried and allowed the Careys to get such detailed photos. Talk about making connections! We share our personal spaces with such abundant and fascinating life.
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