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Bobcat seeks refuge

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Vilcat  Send Vilcat a private message!




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Posted on Monday, March 03, 2008 - 05:20 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Here is a photo of our resident bobcat (female I think)under our bedroom deck. The photo was taken out a ground level window. We have been feeding her table scraps and raw chicken to help her survive our extreme winter this year. Record snow falls have caused the local wildlife to face a tough choice...find a meal or die....and we can't let that happen to this beautiful creature, so we're keeping her fed through this tough time.

Vilcat - New Hampshire, Zone "4b"
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Posted on Monday, March 03, 2008 - 05:23 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Here is the deck she feeds under

Vilcat - New Hampshire, Zone "4b"
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Bunting  Send Bunting a private message!


Posted on Monday, March 03, 2008 - 05:33 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

OH MY ,she is beautiful

Her pretty face just looks like a ordinary house pussy cat

I'd be feeding her too if it was me

Watch her wild streak in the Spring tho. She most likely is with kittens and could attack thinking she is protecting them

I am a lover of cats having 4

Bunting - NS, Zone "6a"
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Posted on Monday, March 03, 2008 - 06:05 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Here is a little bobcat info from the NH Fish and Game:

New Hampshire's Last Wildcat

"Several readers have requested a bobcat story, so this month we take a look at this elusive feline, the last survivor of three wildcats that once roamed the New Hampshire woods. Mountain lions (also called cougars, panthers or catamounts) were gone from the state by the late 1800s. The bobcat's taller cousin, the lynx, lived in northern New Hampshire through the 1950s. Today, only the tenacious bobcat is still here. No one knows for sure, but probably several hundred bobcats still live in the Granite State. The southwestern corner of New Hampshire has the most consistent reports of bobcat sightings.

For centuries, bobcats were killed for bounty in New Hampshire, and by the late 1970s, bobcats had become scarce. New Hampshire's hunting and trapping seasons for bobcat were finally closed in 1989. In less than a decade, bobcats went from being bountied in New Hampshire to being completely protected.

The bobcat population in New Hampshire has increased since that time, but not by much, because now the state's bobcats face new challenges. Fishers and coyotes compete with bobcats for a dwindling prey pool, and encroaching development breaks up the large blocks of habitat bobcats need. Humans have ushered in another dangerous element: busy roads that can be deadly for the wide-ranging animals.

Bobcats often roam between brushy swamp areas and the high-elevation habitat they prefer. Rocky, south-facing slopes and near-summit ledges of mountains offer protection, a safe place to raise kittens and a chance to soak up the sun. The bobcat's only real social grouping is females with kittens -- usually about 3 to a litter, dependent on their mothers for 9 or 10 months. This solitary lifestyle means bobcats need space, and lots of it. Females stake out a territory of about 12 square miles, and males roam over about 36 square miles. A lot depends on the availability of food -- snowshoe hare and cottontail rabbits are the bobcat's favorite, though they will eat mice, chipmunks, wild turkeys and even an occasional deer. Ongoing efforts to conserve, connect and manage protected lands continue to be the best bet for helping New Hampshire's last wildcat survive.

Winter is an especially tough time for bobcats in New Hampshire. Food is scarce, and the bobcat's short legs and small feet aren't well suited to hunting in deep snow. Driven by hunger during the cold months, bobcats sometimes gravitate to barns and porches in search of food, or stalk birds and squirrels at backyard feeders. Many young bobcats, as well as some adults, don't survive winters with long periods of deep, fluffy snow."

This article was written in Sept. 2004
I sure hope our bobcat population has grown since then.

Kathy

Vilcat - New Hampshire, Zone "4b"
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Posted on Monday, March 03, 2008 - 06:11 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Kathy that's a wonderful photo--just great! And thanks for educating us about this cat too. I hope the population increases.

Denise--Northern Wisconsin, Z3b
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Valia  Send Valia a private message!



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Posted on Monday, March 03, 2008 - 06:12 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

That's some serious snow she's dealing with.

Glad she has help. It would be sad if these creatures could no longer be seen in the area.

Valia - UT (winter) WA (summer), Zone "8 and 5"
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Posted on Monday, March 03, 2008 - 06:12 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

I was just going to add, with the amount of snow you have there, I'm glad that you're feeding her!

Denise--Northern Wisconsin, Z3b
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Posted on Monday, March 03, 2008 - 06:20 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

HI

Very interesting info

The bobcat, lynx and cougars are very well known in Nova Scotia Canada

I have seen a cougar myself and certainly they look very different than the bobcat

All beautiful cats for certain

Bunting - NS, Zone "6a"
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My Garden
Posted on Monday, March 03, 2008 - 06:27 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Thank you all for your interest, if you would like to see more pictures and a short video of her, you can click on the "My Garden" link under my user name on the left.

Kathy

Vilcat - New Hampshire, Zone "4b"
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Posted on Monday, March 03, 2008 - 06:39 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Kathy

That was a nice walk through your garden. Thank you, it is lovely.

I love the plant called Lockloma. Blue is my fav in the garden

My gosh your bob cat looks very tame to get pic like this

She looks like she enjoys her pic taken. She knows who is her friend

Otis is a handsome doggie too

Do the 2 get along well?

Bunting - NS, Zone "6a"
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Vilcat  Send Vilcat a private message!




My Garden
Posted on Monday, March 03, 2008 - 07:09 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Bunting,
I at first didn't know what plant you were speaking of, but decided you meant the Iochroma. It is in the same family as the Brugmansia and very easy to grow.
Otis is a very laid back kind of dog, he loves everything and if he sees a fox or bear or a cat, he whines to play with them. He has not seen the bobcat as far as I know, he spends most of his time in the house with us unless he needs to "use the dog pen" if you know what I mean. :)
One ofmy cats, Cassandra, hissed at the bobcat this afternoon while sitting on the inside window ledge and looking out at her. The bobcat just looked back at her...not very impressed.
My cats are indoor only, so not in danger of any of the wild creatures we have around here.


Kathy

Vilcat - New Hampshire, Zone "4b"
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Valia  Send Valia a private message!



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Posted on Monday, March 03, 2008 - 07:17 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Very nice video, Kathy.

I enjoyed seeing all your plants, too, especially the cacti and succulents.

And I realized how much I miss the pig squeak in my old garden.

Valia - UT (winter) WA (summer), Zone "8 and 5"
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Posted on Monday, March 03, 2008 - 07:29 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

The bob cat looks a lot like my sister's Coon cat

Gorgeous

Bunting - NS, Zone "6a"
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Blue_moon  Send Blue_moon a private message!



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Posted on Tuesday, March 04, 2008 - 12:10 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

beautiful, and i thank you for feeding her...

Blue_moon - ca, Zone "9"
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Nanny56  Send Nanny56 a private message!



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Posted on Tuesday, March 04, 2008 - 11:01 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Beauitful animal! So nice of you to help her out for the winter.

Nanny56 - Indiana, Zone "5b"
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Kniphofia  Send Kniphofia a private message!



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Posted on Tuesday, March 04, 2008 - 12:03 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

She is extraordinary! Both of you are lucky. Thanks for sharing her.
Seeing your deck there makes me so glad I'm not in Maine this winter :)

Kniphofia - Northumberland, Zone "?"
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Dirtlady  Send Dirtlady a private message!


Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 06:20 am EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

What a beauty she is and how nice of you to care enough by feeding her. We have taken their (all wildlife) habitat for ourselves and it is nice to see natives. We have about seven acres of woodland behind us and still see deer, etc. roaming around.

Dirtlady - Georgia, Zone "8B"
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Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 01:46 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

How lovely that she has chosen to visit you....she obviously knew you were a lover of wildlife.

It sounds as though they have a tough time of things in their natural habitat, even more so when the weather is so bad....it's so good to hear you are taking care of her.

Dee_b - West Midlands, Zone "7"
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Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 03:30 pm EST :   Last Buddysize PhotosCopy highlighted text to new message Edit Post Delete Post Print Post

Kathy what a great shot of her! Much clearer than the last one you posted. She is obviously feeling happy around your place.
It is wonderful that you are helping her survive. It is such a shame watching wildlife dwindle in numbers. I do hope she does have a litter and you can post pics of them too! How exciting would that be?!

Growit - Hants UK, Zone "8/9"

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