Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren vog obam here. If you live in
Speaker 1: the United States, you might have never seen a bobcat
Speaker 1: in the wild, but that doesn't mean they're not there,
Speaker 1: and it doesn't mean there's not a bobcat sighting in
Speaker 1: your future. Bobcat's taxonomical name, Lynx rufus, are doing great,
Speaker 1: thanks for asking. These days, they're pretty common and can
Speaker 1: be found in almost every state in the lower forty eight,
Speaker 1: as well as throughout most of Mexico and parts of Canada.
Speaker 1: They look a bit like a domestic housecat, so much
Speaker 1: so the people have accidentally rescued bobcat kittens from the
Speaker 1: side of the road. Except the adult bobcats grow to
Speaker 1: be as big as a mid sized dog and are
Speaker 1: a far site less friendly. With a sleek, brown spotted coat,
Speaker 1: a short tail, and tufted ears. You would never mistake
Speaker 1: a grown bobcat for a pet, but you might mistake
Speaker 1: it for a Canadian lynx. That's Lynx canadensis in North America.
Speaker 1: The difference between a bobcat and a lynx has a
Speaker 1: bit to do with the size of the feet, the
Speaker 1: color of the coat, and the length of the ear tufts. Links. However,
Speaker 1: live in northern latitudes and high elevations, and bobcats can
Speaker 1: be found almost anywhere deserts, wetlands, forests, you name it. Also,
Speaker 1: bobcats have notoriously assertive personalities. According to the San Diego Zoo,
Speaker 1: they're referred to by zookeepers as the spitfires of the
Speaker 1: animal kingdom for their unwillingness to back down from a
Speaker 1: kill and just general audacity. A full grown bobcat is
Speaker 1: only about thirty three pounds that's fifteen kilos, but is
Speaker 1: able to bring down a two hundred and fifty pound
Speaker 1: deer by itself that's about a hundred and ten kilos.
Speaker 1: Not only are bobcats tenacious, they're also resilient and adaptable
Speaker 1: to land use change. We spoke with John litt Vedis,
Speaker 1: Emeritus Professor in the Department of Natural Resources in the
Speaker 1: Environment at the University of New Hampshire. According to litt
Speaker 1: Vedis's research, bounty records from New Hampshire from the early
Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds to today show that as old growth trees
Speaker 1: were cleared for agriculture and timber replaced in many places,
Speaker 1: with she young forests, bobcat numbers skyrocketed. Their favorite foods, rabbits, deer, grouse,
Speaker 1: and basically anything else that likes to live in a scrubby,
Speaker 1: impenetrable thicket were well supported by a young forest, But
Speaker 1: as the forests aged into old ones that didn't harbor
Speaker 1: as many rabbits, and as coyotes, which compete with bobcats
Speaker 1: were introduced to New Hampshire, and as bobcat firs became
Speaker 1: popular in the mid twentieth century, numbers plummeted. These factors,
Speaker 1: accompanied by some particularly harsh winters in New Hampshire in
Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies and eighties, resulted in the bobcat population
Speaker 1: tanking by the population in this state, where they had
Speaker 1: once flourished, was most likely fewer than a hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty animals. A similar trend could be seen all over
Speaker 1: the United States. But then the states started protecting bobcats
Speaker 1: by putting strict limits on how many could be hunted
Speaker 1: or trapped. With less human intervention, bobcats are doing much
Speaker 1: better Vedas said, bobcat populations are increasing now throughout much
Speaker 1: of their geographic range. I'm amazed at the abilities they
Speaker 1: have to adapt to a demanding and changing environment. Because,
Speaker 1: unlike coyotes and foxes, bobcats are strict carnivores, so their
Speaker 1: diet places substantial challenges to acclimating to suburban and urban life.
Speaker 1: In New Hampshire, bobcat numbers were estimated to be around
Speaker 1: one thousand four and are even higher today. So how
Speaker 1: do they manage maintaining a strict carnivores diet while living
Speaker 1: catches catch can and human centered landscapes. They work smarter,
Speaker 1: not harder, preying on our backyard chickens and other animals
Speaker 1: that do well hanging out around people, Veta said. In
Speaker 1: the Northeast, staying close to a bird feeder during winter
Speaker 1: seems to help bobcats snag unsuspecting squirrels and thus get
Speaker 1: through the toughest time of the year. Of course, cohabiting
Speaker 1: with humans isn't always great for either the bobcat or
Speaker 1: the humans. The cats are more likely to be hit
Speaker 1: by cars or have unpleasant run ins with humans if
Speaker 1: they're lounging around in someone's backyard waiting for a turk
Speaker 1: key or chipmunk to wander through. Should you encounter a bobcat,
Speaker 1: the best advice is to give it as much respect
Speaker 1: and space as possible. Similarly, a small dog or housecat
Speaker 1: might be targeted by a bobcat as a potential meal,
Speaker 1: and domestic cats are susceptible to a tick boorn disease
Speaker 1: called bobcat fever, for which bobcats are the natural host.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, bobcats are doing so well that some
Speaker 1: states like Illinois have passed laws reinstating bobcat hunting and
Speaker 1: trapping season for the first time in forty years. But
Speaker 1: now the question is how do we maintain a good
Speaker 1: relationship with bobcat neighbors. It's tricky, but public education about
Speaker 1: how to safely cohabitate with bobcats will help. Mostly, as
Speaker 1: we said, leave them alone, don't feed them, and keep
Speaker 1: an eye on children and animals if you've spotted one
Speaker 1: in the neighborhood. Also, like any housecat, they'll take the
Speaker 1: hint that they're not welcome if you spray them with water.
Speaker 1: Leveda said, I'm happy they're thriving. For me, they symbolize
Speaker 1: the wild portrait of nature, and I'm glad they're doing well.
Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Jessicuin Shields and produced by
Speaker 1: Tyler clang. Brain Stuff is a production of iHeart Radios
Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. For more in this and lots of
Speaker 1: other catty topics, visit our home planet has stuff works
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