This morning, I was sitting in an intermittent drizzle on Flat Rock, hidden behind the cattails while scanning our North Field. I wasn’t comfortable. The rock was wet and not equipped with a roll of Bounty Towels.
I was debating moving to another location when our alarm went off – about 20 crows started screeching their black hearts out in the trees at the edge of the Field. “Eagle!,” I thought and intensively searched the tree tops while the birds went insane. Nothing.
I fortunately looked down at the Field in frustration and there he was. (Sex assumed.) He was loping low and keeping his eye on me. While I was watching crows, he was watching me: a gorgeous mature Bobcat. When I “shot” with a “click,” he stopped and studied me for a second and ran off.
I was lucky; Bobcats are mostly nocturnal. They’re named for their bobbed” (shortened) tails, of course. Although not commonly seen, they’re the most abundant wildcat in North America and have been roaming the earth for about 1.8 million years.
Bobcats can be fierce hunters and kill prey that is much larger than they are, but they usually eat rabbits, squirrels, birds, and other small prey. They’re fast for a small, stocky animal: They’ve been clocked at 34 miles an hour and seen to jump 12 feet high. (Brooklin, Maine)