Bobcat - Lynx rufus

Weight: 15-35 lbs
Head/Body: 30 in
Tail: 6 in
Subspecies: 11

The bobcat is proportioned like a small lynx, with a powerful body, short, sturdy legs, and a very short tail. Its fairly large head has large, sharply-pointed ears, tufted in some subspecies. Its buff coat fades to white on its undersides and is barred and spotted on its flanks, belly and legs with dark brown or black. The backs of its ears are black.

The bobcat may be found in most terrain, short of actual desert, of western North America from British Columbia to central Mexico. It is very territorial, where it hunts by night, from the ground or trees, and seeks rabbits, gophers, and other small animals. Prior to the settlement of its territory by Europeans, the bobcat ranged over a much wider area of the U.S. and Canada. This is the wildcat that a mountain man was supposed to be able to whup his weight in.

Hear a bobcat.