In the Tracks of a Bobcat

A real gift during my shoulder surgery recovery has been my morning hikes with Shyla. It's been a change in routine, from pedal power on the trails to wandering all over the forest off the trails.

Recently, Shyla hurt two paws, up between the paw pads so she needs to wear boots during our hikes. Initially, she didn't mind them. I'm sorry to report that she has now decided that she hates them.

"Can't you see the problem here, KB?"

"Really, I'm serious. These red boots have got to go."

"OK, if you won't listen to reason, take a look at my teeth!"

"Well, that didn't work. Maybe if I sit here looking pathetic, the boots will vanish."

Next, Shyla resorted to a fervent prayer that the boots would simply disappear.

I am happy to report that, when she's running around the forest, Shyla completely forgets about the evil boots and has fun, in spite of herself!

During today's hike, we found some bobcat tracks, and we followed the tracks for most of our hike, letting the wild animal dictate our route. Here's a track of a bobcat. Notice how it's as wide as it is long (about 1.5" each way), and that no claws are showing (unlike canine tracks). Also notice how the big triangular paw pad has a flattened apex. That tells you it's a feline track rather than a canine track.

This bobcat wandered far and wide a couple of nights ago, and his tracks were still easy to follow today.

It's one of my favorite kind of hikes, where I learn about the behavior of a wild animal by following what he did in the forest. A bobcat's agility astounds me. He leaped up and onto huge boulder outcroppings and walk logs like balance beams. Bobcats are obsessed with rabbits, and I saw where he stopped to stalk near rabbit tracks several times in his wandering.

Believe it or not, his wandering included the area near our house. He left a signature "scrape" right by our front door. In the photo below, his front paws were at the top of the photo. Each of his hind paws scraped backward to create the furrows in the bottom half of the photo. In this case, he also left scat. Most scrapes don't have scat with them.

Here's a sequence by our house when a bobcat left a scrape in front of a trail camera. Notice that he kicked back with each hind paw and then squatted, probably to leave a urine mark.

Felines often repeatedly mark the same spots, so I like to point my trail camera at scrapes left by bobcats and mountain lions. Both species often mark the same spots so I often get great photos at scrapes!