The Magic Hour had arrived, when it’s neither day nor night, and I’d been watching a shadowed figure moving in and out of the hardwoods below me for almost half an hour. This gray afternoon, with soft snowflakes lingering throughout, was almost over as darkness began to rob me of my day. Yet, I remained laser focused on the careful, steady gait of this figure whose path would soon bring it directly in front of my tree stand.
Watching closely now as the animal began to take shape, I realized for the first time since it appeared that the chance of it being a deer was over. The large bobcat, with features becoming more impressive by the minute, continued moving closer, one cautious step at a time, finally stopping directly in front of me, peering around searching for prey, danger, or whatever else was on its mind.
Good fortune had suddenly found me on this November afternoon, as the creature was, without a doubt, the largest bobcat I’d ever seen. The length of its body was so impressive, confirming it was an adult. The paws appeared to be very large, the jet-black tip protruding from the end of its short tail was huge, and I was astonished by the size of both. The space between its eyes, while not as great as its cousin, the Canadian lynx, was far greater than anything I’d ever seen in a bobcat before.
Its coat was perfectly fitted to its body. The darkish gray and tan spots and stripes on its legs, flanks and belly were far bigger than what you might usually see on an Eastern bobcat. And as the creature moved away from me in the now fast- fading light, it took on an appearance almost spirit-like. Like a “woods ghost” stopping occasionally to check the wind and its backtrack while carefully analyzing everything. I was amazed that it didn’t pick up my scent, which made me think, despite not having seen a deer that evening, I must be doing something right.
As I finally lost sight of the animal, it seemed to be more like an apparition than any other animal I’d ever seen. Then, in the quiet of darkness, my mind, for a moment, began to whirl with second-guessing about what I had seen. And it felt great just knowing that bobcats are with us, in our woodlands, right here where we live, and in stable numbers. It wasn’t always that way, however.
In the past, bobcats were viewed as both varmint and predator. Until 1968, it was legal to hunt bobcat year-round, with bounty paid for harvesting one. In 1971, Massachusetts was the first state in the Northeast to reclassify the bobcat as a game animal with a regulated hunting season established. Since then, bobcat populations in New England have risen dramatically.
Today, bobcats are an important natural resource in Massachusetts, classified as a furbearer species with solid management programs in place. Predators that follow consistent hunting paths for snowshoe hares and cottontails, a bobcat’s diet consists mainly of mice, squirrels, woodchucks, moles, shrews, raccoons, foxes, domestic cats, grouse, porcupines and skunks. Bobcats can “fast” during periods of limited food supply but will occasionally kill large prey during unusually harsh conditions.
Breeding season is typically in February and March as females are in heat during this period. A female and dominant male will mate several times after a series of “chases,” but the female may also mate with other males in his absence. Bobcats have a gestation period of two months and females give birth to their litter between late April and early May. Litter size is usually two or three kits, but it is not unusual for her to have more. The kits begin exploring at one month and are weaned shortly after. By autumn, the kits are hunting on their own but stay with their mother for at least a year. Bobcat tracks are sometimes confused with tracks of domestic house cats, although adult bobcat prints are larger than a house cat.
Their front paws have five toes while the back paws have only four. The fifth toe on the front paw is high on the forefeet, so it does not leave an impression when it walks. The claws leave no impressions as they retract just like a house cat.
Of course, just knowing that bobcats are out there lends itself to a broader and richer sense of what it means to be a part of all that’s wild. Even if it’s just searching which gets you out and into the outdoors, you’ll always end up richer for the experience. You might even find what you’re looking for. The track of a New England bobcat, whose presence among us is like a “woods ghost” wandering the forest, embodies the spirit of the wild while also drawing us back into a winter-like pureness of another time.
Joe Judd is a lifelong hunter and outdoorsman. He is an outdoor writer, seminar speaker, consultant and active member of the New England Outdoor Writers Assoc. Joe is also a member of the Quaker Boy Game Calls, Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Pro-Staff.