Last weekend I was out shooting in the wetlands again, and had my third nice photographic opportunity with a lovely bobcat. I shared some shots from my last encounter in September, and thought y'all might like some more! I first spotted him about 30 feet away, rubbing some scent along some reeds and gnawing on a stalk...I believe this is one of the cubs I had photographed with its mom back in September, now more grown: It caught my scent or heard me, and sat down and turned around to have a look at me, I guess to see if I was a threat He made some grumbling noises and watched me for a while, but didn't look terribly threatened or worried He then started walking off, and I walked parallel to him - surprisingly his walk took him even a little closer to me, about 25 feet away - and I just walked along slowly in the same direction taking some shots as we went The walk never seemed to be about getting away from me, as he made no attempt to head into the heavier brush where I couldn't follow He stopped along the way and found a scent that seemed to really get his attention - he sneezed a few times and started drooling and closing his eyes to take in that scent and taste, probably of another cat. He looked back at me while drooling, just to make sure I wasn't going to be a bother A little lick to clean up the drool He then suddenly turned his head quickly - staring off ahead of us like he heard a sound or saw something...one more shot, and then *poof*! He shot off into the brush and that was the end of my encounter! Hope you enjoyed - always a great privilege to see such an animal in the wild - and a nice break from the usual birds. Comments, questions, critique welcomed.
Great photos of a beautiful animal! Guess he must be fairly used to being around people if he wasn't spooked by your movements. Erich
Thank you Erich. ; Indeed these are mostly suburban cats - the wetlands areas they live in are right in the middle of suburban sprawl, and the wetlands have boardwalks for public access covering about 1/4 of the wetlands area, making it more difficult for them to avoid encountering people at some point. ; Often they roam at night into people's yards or cross the streets to move from wetlands to wetlands area. ; When I encountered them in September, the mother had two cubs with her - I believe this is one of the two cubs - that means they've been seeing people almost since they were born! ; Maybe he remembered me. ; Unfortunately, the other cub had a run-in with a much larger predator in the wetlands and is no more - two photographer friends of mine witnessed the unfortunate aftermath when they saw a large alligator swimming with the body.
Thanks John. ; Indeed - lucky catch for the alligator, who's usually relegated to eating hard, crunchy turtles...but too bad for the pretty young cat. Even when you're a predator, you always have to be aware that you could still be the prey for something else!
Your Florida Bobcats hardly have an ear tuft. ; People tend to be very surprised when they are told about such predator living close to them. ; In this age where people are spreading and habit is vanishing, those animals that adapt and survive among humans will continue, others may disappear.
I think as he gets older, he'll get a bit more of the tuft on the ear, and more of the flared 'moustache' - this one is probably no more than about 7 months old...so I don't think he's developed his colors and all his hair flair. ; He was only about 3 feet long and 2 feet high - he'll probably grow at least another foot in each direction.
thanks for sharing- we have them up here around us- but only see the pawprints......loved the series! Peg
Thanks guys. ; I wish I saw them more often, but I can't complain - I've now seen them 4 times in about a year and a half - prior to that, I saw one once in 43 years!
