A Bobcat Family

Using trail cameras, we've been following a mother bobcat and her kittens this summer. For most of August, my cameras mainly captured photos of the mother carrying prey to the den but occasionally getting images of the kittens out of the den with their mom.

In late August, the mother brought the kittens out to play shortly after she'd served them a breakfast of freshly caught squirrel. They played at the base of a bear-marking tree where I had a trail camera that shoots video. I've learned over the years that many animals are attracted to bear-marking trees, including bobcats.

Then, one morning recently, the family was startled by a skunk. The kittens scattered and mom ran directly away from the skunk and out of the view of the camera. I don't think any of the family was sprayed because I didn't smell any trace of skunk in that vicinity the next morning.

However, after the skunk caused them to scatter, the mother had only one kitten with her. At first, the mother didn't seem concerned, and she played adorably with one kitten in front of my camera (again, at the base of a bear-marking tree). They both rolled, showing us their incredibly spotted bellies.

A couple of minutes later, the other kitten still hadn't returned. Atypically, the mother bobcat and her kitten stayed out on the wildlife trail for hours in the same area. Usually, mother bobcats don't use main wildlife trails with their kittens until winter, when the kittens are much bigger. The mother looked around her vigilantly, perhaps waiting for her 2nd kitten to return. I wish I'd been recording audio because I suspect the mother did some cat-calling to try to bring him back.

I've made a video of all this action which I hope you enjoy watching! You can watch it at Youtube also.