The Lynx or Bobcat
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The Lynx or Bobcat
The north american Bobcat, or Lynx Rufus is rarely seen by man. So most people know little about the elusive animal. Hopefully this website will be a source of information on the incredibly beautiful Lynx for those that are curious and want to learn more.
The Bobcat is listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which means it is not considered threatened with extinction, but that hunting and trading must be closely monitored.
There is a subspecies of lynx that is considered endangered. The Lynx rufus escuinapae (the Mexican bobcat) is listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This subspecies is confined to central Mexico.
What does a Bobcat Look Like?
The Bobcat looks much like other species of the Lynx genus but is the smallest of the four.
Its coat is variable, though generally tan to grayish brown, with black streaks on the body and dark bars on the forelegs and tail.
It is spotted patterning acts as camouflage.
The ears are black-tipped and pointed, with short black tufts.
Their color also varies by the region they inhabit. Bobcats in the desert regions of the southwest have the lightest colored coats, while those in the northern, forested regions are darkest.
Kittens are born very furry and already have their spots.
The face appears wide due to ruffs of extended hair beneath the ears. The fur is brittle but quite long and dense.
The nose of the Bobcat is pinkish-red, and it has a base color of gray or yellowish- or brownish-red on its face, sides, and back.
Bobcat eyes are yellow with vertical elongated black pupils that widen to help them see better at night.
The historical range of the Bobcat or Lynx Rufus
The historical range of the Bobcat was from southern Canada, throughout the United States, and as far south as the Mexican state of Oaxaca, and it still persists across much of this area.
Fierce Lynx Print
Lynx Postcards

Fierce Lynx by ZillaFX
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Lynx Postcard by Critterpainter
Browse Lynx Postcards
The Species of Bobcat
There are twelve Bobcat subspecies currently known or recognized.
Below you will find their scientific names, the souces cited and the location where the subspecies is believed to range.
Which is a big reason why as you look at photographs of the lynx or bobcat, many of them look different.
I remember when I was painting the lynx you see at the top of the page, everyone was giving my different descriptions of what they "knew" a lynx to look like. Each one was probably correct, because all the subspecies and species of lynx vary in looks, with the common similiarities you see in all of them.
- L. rufus rufus (Schreber) - eastern and midwestern United States
- L. rufus gigas (Bangs) - northern New York to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
- L. rufus floridanus (Rafinesque) - southeastern United States and inland to the Mississippi valley, up to southwestern Missouri and southern Illinois
- L. rufus superiorensis (Peterson & Downing) - western Great Lakes area, including upper Michigan, Wisconsin, southern Ontario, and most of Minnesota
- L. rufus californicus (Mearns) - California west of the Sierra Nevada
- L. rufus fasciatus (Rafinesque) - Oregon, Washington west of the Cascade Range, northwestern California, and southwestern British Columbia
- L. rufus oaxacensis (Goodwin) - Oaxaca
- L. rufus baileyi (Merriam) - southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico
- L. rufus escuinipae (J. A. Allen) - central Mexico, with a northern extension along the west coast to southern Sonora
- L. rufus pallescens (Merriam) - northwestern United States and southern British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan
- L. rufus peninsularis (Thomas) - Baja California
- L. rufus texensis (Mearns) - western Louisiana, eastern Texas, south central Oklahoma, and south into Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, and Coahuila
Canadian Lynx
Lynx Print

Canadian Lynx by almedic104
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Lynx Print by ouidamac
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The Bobcat or Lynx Books on Amazon
The Bobcat or Lynx Books on Amazon
What does the bobcat eat?
The bobcat is a carnivore and has a diet of mostly meat.
They stalk their prey and then pounce on it, going for the neck for the kill.
Their most common diet is rabbits, hares, rats, redents, squirrels, birds, fish, reptile and even insects.
Less commonly, they have been known to sometimes hunt foxes, minks, skunks, small domesticated animals and small livestock like goats, sheep and chickens.
What predators does the bobcat have?
The bobcat is often hunted by foxes, coyotes, owls, Cougars and wolves.
The kits are sometimes killed by male bobcat.
The largest threat to the bobcats existance come in the human form.

Bobcat track in the mud
A Canadian Lynx
Calendar

Canadian Lynx by mbarkerphotos
More Lynx Postcards

Animal Calendar 2010 by mmersdesign
make a calendar online using Zazzle
Lifespan and Reproduction of the Bobcat
Lifespan
Bobcats live on the average six to eight years. Very few live past ten years of age. There has been rare cases of a bobcat living as long as sixteen years in the wild and thirty two years in captivity.
Reproduction
Spring is the most common mating season for the bobcat. They breed much like the common housecat, with a female often having several different male mates. There is a lot of neck biting, howling and screams during breeding.
The female will have her kits often in a cave, or hollow log, any sheltered area will do. Her gestation period is sixty to seventy days. The lynx has between one and six kittens, with an average of two to four in a litter. The kits will open their eyes in nine to ten days and are usually weaned by two months. Though they will stay with their mother longer.
Lynx Kitten, Lynx Canadensis, MT
Lynx Kitten, Lynx Canadensis, MT
The Bobcat or Lynx on Ebay
The Bobcat or Lynx on Ebay
Your Linx Book Store
and other Animals
Lynx Behavior
The Bobcat is nocturnal, and does most all of it's activities at night.
They travel two to seven miles every day. There teritory is marked with feces, urine scent, and by clawing prominent trees in the area.
Like most big cats there territory is usually solitary, but they will often overlap. They may have more than one home within that territory, which usually consists of dens made in hollow logs, brush piles, thickets, or under rock ledges
They are usually known to be quiet except during mating season where their yowls and hisses can be heard.
Adorable Baby Bobcat playing
The Bobcat in Mythology
Indian Lore
How the bobcat got it's spots
According to Shawnee Indian lore, the bobcat got his spots due to an encounter with a rabbit that he had chased into a tree. The wily rabbit suggested that the bobcat build a fire in order to be ready to start cooking - once the fire was going, the rabbit jumped in its center and sent sparks flying so that embers landed on the bobcat. The rabbit escaped as the bobcat ran to the river to extinguish his coat, which the embers had left with telltale burned spots.
The Hiker's Notebook
Native American Legends
Badger carries Darkness: Coyote and Bobcat scratch each other
A White Mountain Apache Legend
Coyote was traveling along. Badger always used to carry darkness on his back. Coyote met him. "My cross-cousin, what's in the bag you carry?" he asked. He was hungry and he thought Badger had food in his sack.
Because he thought there was food in there, Coyote wanted to stay around where Badger was and maybe get something to eat. So the two traveled on together for a way. Then Coyote was thinking he would offer to carry the load and let Badger rest.
Follow this link for the rest of the legend:
The First People - The Legends
This is from the Shoshone Bannock indians, the legend behind the reason they will not hunt the bobcat:
A trip to the Moon
Native American Legends
Old Man and the roasted Squirrels
A Blackfoot Legend
One time as Old Man was walking along, he came to a place where many squirrels were playing in some very hot ashes. While some squirrels lay in the ashes, others would cover them with even more ashes. When the buried squirrels became so hot that they couldn't take the heat any more, they would call out to the others, who would take them out at once. After Old Man had watched them for a little while, he asked them if he could play with them, too.
The rest of the story
Old Man And The Lynx
This story is also re-told as "Old Man And The Lynx"...
Old Man was traveling round over the prairie, when he saw a lot of prairie-dogs sitting in a circle. They had built a fire, and were sitting around it. Old Man went toward them, and when he got near them, he began to cry, and said, "Let me, too, sit by that fire."
The prairie-dogs said: "All right, Old Man. Don't cry. Come and sit by the fire."
The rest of the story
References:
- Bobcat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Bobcat From Wikipedia
- Animal Diversity Web
- Animal Diversity Web
- The Wolf, the Fox, the Bobcat and the Cougar -- A Trip to the Moon -- Outdoor Idaho (Idaho Public Television)
- The Wolf, the Fox, the Bobcat and the Cougar -- A Trip to the Moon -- Outdoor Idaho (Idaho Public Television)
- Native American Indian Legends - Badger carries Darkness: Coyote and Bobcat scratch each other - Apache
- American Indian Legends : An Apache Indian Legend - Badger carries Darkness: Coyote and Bobcat scratch each other.
- Hiker's Notebook: Bobcat
- Hiker's Notebook: Bobcat
Lynx in the News
- Rebekkah Brunson, Lynx rally to beat Sun to stay unbeaten
- Rebekkah Brunson believes the Minnesota Lynx have yet to play to their potential. Opponents might beg to differ as the defending WNBA champions are off to their best start in franchise history. Brunson had 14 points and 13 rebounds in an 85-72 victory ...
- Lynx-Sun Preview
- The Minnesota Lynx are on the verge of securing their best start in franchise history. So is their next opponent. The Lynx will try to improve to 6-0 on Friday night when they visit the unbeaten Connecticut Sun, winners of seven straight at home in the ...
- HAVAS ACQUIRES TOP DIGITAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY CREATIVE LYNX
- PRESS RELEASE Puteaux, May 31, 2012 HAVAS ACQUIRES TOP DIGITAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY Creative Lynx Joins Havas Health Havas announced today the acquisition of a majority stake in Creative Lynx, the leading digital health and ...
- Can Lynx equal or improve upon last year's record?
- The Lynx always hand out their press clippings to the media on game days at Target Center. Kinda nice. You see what others are writing about the team. Before the Los Angeles Sparks game -- their third game of a 34-game regular season -- there was one ...
Caracal or African Lynx, Felis Caracal Native to Africa
Caracal or African Lynx, Felis Caracal Native to Africa
Leave your pawprints here
I hope you enjoyed learning with me about the Bobcat/Lynx. Please drop a note and leave your thoughts.
Thanks for stopping by,
Linda
Learn More about the Lynx or Bobcat at:
Lynx Book Store
tagfoot rocks my socks-
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PalmBayFlorida
Apr 10, 2012 @ 12:01 pm | delete
- Just had one walk across my backyard this morning. Beautiful !!
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aesta1
Mar 30, 2012 @ 6:13 am | delete
- Really interesting. I have seen them only in paintings.
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JaguarJulie Mar 27, 2012 @ 6:37 pm | delete
- You must know that I am a cat lover ... what's not to love about the Lynx and the Bobcat?
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luniarose
Feb 27, 2012 @ 9:16 am | delete
- Wonderful photos
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bejeezers Feb 9, 2012 @ 5:36 pm | delete
- Wonderful images.
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- Load More
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by ArtByLinda
Hello my friend! My name is Linda and I'm an Idaho Artist and Photographer.
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