Bobcats

Post date: Feb 2, 2019 8:22:16 PM

Food and Feeding Habits

• • Bobcats are opportunistic and will prey upon a wide variety of animals.

  • Food sources include mice, voles, rabbits, gophers, mountain beaver, yellow bellied marmots, fawns; also insects, reptiles, birds, and carrion.

  • Domestic animals occasionally taken include house cats, poultry, small pigs, and lambs. To prevent conflicts, follow the suggestions under “Preventing Conflicts.”

  • Bobcats hunt primarily by sight and sound, which means they spend much of their time sitting or crouching, watching, and listening. Once they’ve located prey, they stalk within range of a quick dash and then pounce.

    • A bobcat will cover the remains of a large kill with debris such as snow, grass, or leaves. The bobcat will revisit a carcass until most of it is consumed.

    • Preventing Conflicts

    • Bobcats are not often responsible for killing domestic animals, but occasionally are responsible for losses of poultry, lambs, small goats, pigs, and house cats. Mostly, bobcats tend to use wild animals as prey items. Once a bobcat causes damage for the first time, it gets easier for the animal to do it again.

    • Where bobcats are deemed a problem, use the following management strategies around your property to prevent conflicts:

    • Don’t feed wildlife. This includes deer, feral cats (domestic cats gone wild), and other small mammals. Remember predators follow prey.

    • Prevent the buildup of feeder foods under bird feeders. Bobcats are attracted to the many birds and rodents that come to feeders.

    • Feed dogs and cats indoors and clean up after them. If you must feed outside, do so in the morning or midday, and pick up food and water bowls, as well as leftovers and spilled food as soon as pets have finished eating. Water, pet food and droppings attract small mammals that, in turn, attract bobcats.

    • Keep dogs and cats indoors, especially from dusk to dawn. Left outside at night, small dogs and cats may become prey for bobcats (which have attacked cocker-spaniel-size dogs).

    • Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) offices receive hundreds of reports of bobcat sightings each year. Due to time constraints, officers will only respond when there is a threat to public safety.