Bobcats!!!!

So my dad has been convinced there has been some kind of big cat in the area for a few years driving area dogs nuts at night but we’ve never seen nor gotten pictures of any. Can’t say that anymore, after running between 1 to 6 cameras in the woods at a time for the last ten years I got not one but 2 cats on camera. Almost makes me wish I hadn’t pulled all my cameras today to see if I can get them again but running on borrowed time to recover all my stands/cameras before mother nature makes it a huge PITA to get them out before spring.
Pretty sure the one in the sunny picture and the one on the left side of the picture are the same cat (taken 10 min. apart by 2 dif. cameras) and the one in the center of the one picture is a different one(taken immediately before the other picture at same camera). For reference the two ‘shady’ pictures those cats are 10′ to 15′ give or take from the camera.

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Cool pics!

they are everywhere !! two threads on bobcats and I have them here !
I am surrounded by the looks of it!

They sure can be hard to see. Had to look 3 times before spotting the one in the second picture.

Dutchboy wrote:

They sure can be hard to see. Had to look 3 times before spotting the one in the second picture.

yup, I missed that too the first time through. Found it the second time because I was looking hard after a friend had said he thought the other two pictures were different cats.

The first one I saw was in the sunny picture and my gut reaction was that we had a damn south American jaguar walking around because of the markings.

if anyone out there with far more experience with bobcats can let me know how these rank in terms of ‘size’ i would appreciate it. Really have no idea what a big cat would be as far as size.

The one in the clearest picture that is walking away is a big bobcat. Look at the legs and the thickness of the tail.

That spotted one would be a true trophy if you were inclined to hunt them.

I’m worried about what all the wolves are going to do to our NE MN bobcats over time. Like everything else, they are on the wolf menu.

Grouse

Those are some cool pics!! I’m almost certain I have one around my house as well. A few weeks ago, I threw out part of a ham that we didn’t finish. 2 days later, I went out and saw that it was covered in leaves! It stuck out like a soar thumb on the edge of the woods because we had about 6-7″ of snow on the ground. So, I went over to investigate. I found some pretty large cat prints and 3 spots of fresh urine around it. A couple spots where I could see it had clawed the snow onto the ham, had claw marks just about as wide as a pop can. They were far to large for the stray cat I have seen around. What else could the tracks be from? My first guess was a bobcat? Suppose I need to get a camera out!

Having a few cams at the NE MN family property I seem to get a sprinkling of all kinds of predators: Bears, wolves, coyotes, foxes, bobcats, fishers, skunks & raccoons. I’m pretty sure I’ve even had a badger but the picture quality was poor. They all seem to be around but I never get enough pics that could be considered a pattern of any one predator.

Saw your bobcat pick on WCCO news tonight, PM. First pic in this thread was used in an article about bobcats showing up down in southern MN.

Did you send this pic to the DNR?

Grouse

Nope, these are WI kitties. I’ll have to look for that article.

Iowa has bobs. Wisconsin has bobs. Nebraska is full of them and South Dakota has their fair share so I wonder why it’s assumed that they are not in southern MN? Must be the same thought process used when reports come in of cougar sightings….

I know for fact they’ve been in the SE corner for years as I’ve seen the cats and their tracks while hunting and winter trout fishing.

Bump

Just to make Tom feel better about the updates

cool pics. What does a bobcat sound like? Once while deer hunting by a swamp heard the most god awful scream always wondered what it was, thought maybe a cat, anyway kept tight hold of gun till sunup

Illinois harvested 141 Bobcats during the 2016/17 season.

For the first time in my life, I saw a live bobcat in the wild, er.. attempt to cross the road in front of me on the way to work. I’m still amazed at how FAST it ran out and on a dime, turned right back around and bolted to the woods. Cats are some cool creatures!

Illinois harvested 318 Bobcats in the 2017/18 season.
https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/news/Pages/Hunters-and-Trappers-Harvested-318-Bobcats-During-2017-18-Season.aspx