Photo: Bobcat Proof
We’ve long suspected we had at least one bobcat at the ranch (but there’s always more than one, right?). With the latest deer census, we finally have photographic proof. Two different days, and I can’t tell if it’s the same cat or not, but that’s definitely a bobcat. I found a lot of good photos on this batch of census shots, but these were the most exciting. Hogs, raccoons, crows, squirrel, armadillo, opossum, and deer showed up this time.
Bob cats? I have no knowledge of them. We had evidence of them (at least one, a male) at the farm, when the Mama Barncat had a litter of bobtailed kittens.
Funny thing, people sometimes ask me if our Manx tabby is part bobcat. She weighs about 11 pounds, is very furry and extremely laid back. My guess is that she is, as the vet put it, 100% common house cat.
Bobcats carry some dread parasite with a lot of syllables, so be careful of him. It’s supposed to be 95% fatal to house cats and is carried by fleas and ticks. Bobcats will often, it is said, kill housecats. All in all, not the guy you want to have move into your Kitty City.
I had a one-eighth bobcat cat many years ago. He was a sweetie (except for an affinity for spraying even though he was neutered). He escaped from my car after a vet visit on Lackland AFB, and I never saw him again. We have no plans to incorporate this kitty into our menagerie or even to attempt any interaction with him. In fact, we don’t particularly want to interact with any of this wildlife. It’s fascinating to capture it on camera, though.