Thursday, February 24, 2011

Tracking bobcat


I've tracked animals off and on in Flat Rock over the past few years, often with my friend Ron. Snowshoe hare, deer, dog, coyote, mouse, and various bird tracks are common. I know Ron has seen moose tracks, and we've seen bear scat one time. I've studied up on bobcat tracks so I'd know when I found one....and a few weeks ago I did. I was ill-prepared that day, trudging through snow in boots when snowshoes might have helped a little, and I had no camera, so I had to resort to my phone's rudimentary camera. Regardless, I've run this photo by a few knowledgeable outdoorsmen, and can tell you, with 95% certainty, that this is a bobcat track. I'll save the 5% for a particularly large and lucky housecat that has strayed far from home and avoided becoming a coyote's meal.

I returned a couple of weeks later, and followed fox prints for a while, then moved on to some deer tracks that led to some deer beds. Mixed in among the deer tracks were (I think) some more bobcat tracks. I can't say for sure, because as I moved in my snowshoes to kneel down to look up close, I managed to kick snow onto the tracks.

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