Bobcat next door

/ Tracy Abell

Emma’s barking got me out of bed at 6:00 this morning. Turned out, there was a bobcat on the other side of our fence. Zippy saw it when he went to investigate and I was consumed by envy after he came inside and described peering over the fence at the growling bobcat.

Ah, well, I thought. Maybe someday I, too, will  have a bobcat sighting.

Fast forward five hours when I was in my writing room with the window open and heard a strange sound coming from outside. It took a moment for my brain to kick in: growling bobcat! Emma’s brain kicked in right after mine and she began barking near the fence. I looked out my window and, sure enough, the bobcat had returned to the yard next door.

As it listened to the barking Emma, the bobcat’s tail moved side-to-side. Oddly, it moved more like a wagging dog’s tail than an irritated cat flicking its tail. The unperturbed bobcat remained there until Zippy came out into the yard to get Emma to stop barking. At that point, Zippy didn’t know what was happening, but the bobcat went on alert at Zippy’s approach.

After assessing the situation, the bobcat leapt onto the back fence. (Look at the size of those back paws!)

It settled in to watch Zippy and Emma for a bit as I continued to snap photos from the second-story window. When first photographing the gorgeous cat, I saw a flash of white on one ear and thought maybe it’d been tagged by a wildlife agency.

Then I realized both ears had white patches. I’d known about the tufts on their ears, but learned today bobcats have false eyes on the backs of their ears. I didn’t capture any images of both ears so here’s a photo from the linked site. I knew about false eyes on moths and butterflies, but was unaware mammals also have them.

Wow. Wow. Wow. And as if the bobcat excitement wasn’t enough, a few minutes later I looked out another window and was gifted the sight of a Turkey Vulture riding the air currents. I watched for several minutes, filled with gratitude for the local wildlife. This day’s a WIN!

 

22 thoughts on “Bobcat next door”

    • It’s funny. I hadn’t worried initially because I had it in my head the bobcat was in that yard because the house is currently unoccupied (as in, the bobcat is seeking privacy and has no interest in being around us), but we’re going to start going outside when Emma goes out for the next little while to keep an eye on things.

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  7. Great pictures! I always find it comical when animals with short, stubby tails wiggle them about. I know the animal does not find anything comical about it. It is just part of who they are. It’s a good idea to have something that looks like eyes on the back of your head, you’re less likely to get attacked by a territorial owl that way. They won’t swoop at something if it things its looking at them. In some places, like here, early morning or dusk time joggers have to wear knit caps with a pattern that looks like eyes on the back of their head to avoid getting harassed by owls during winter mating season.

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    • Ah, I hadn’t thought of those false eyes and owls! I was thinking of larger predators. And wow to people wearing eye-hats to also avoid owls. I’ve heard of “face” masks on the backs of heads to deter mountain lions (I think they do that in CA?), but not because of owls.

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