Bobcats are common in all parts of Maine except for the most northwestern corner where there normally is deep snow and colder temperatures, according to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
They are versatile, which means they live in multiple types of habitats including woods, farms and close to urban and suburban areas, resulting in an increase of complaints about them. They eat rodents, making the cats important to Maine’s wildlife ecosystem, according to MDIFW.
Other foods are snowshoe hare, grouse, woodchucks, beavers, deer and turkeys. Predators looking for them include people and fishers. Predators such as eagles, great horned owls, coyotes, foxes and bears can cause injuries that may become fatal, according to the state.
They resemble the endangered lynx, but are smaller, have a longer tail and shorter ear tufts. Their feet are half the size of a lynx, making it harder for them to navigate deep snow.
Bobcats have several types of vocalizations, including a mating scream that sounds like a woman screaming, a cry that sounds like a baby crying, They also hiss, snarl, growl, yowl and meow like domestic cats.
You can hear one of those vocalizations in this incredible video shared by BDN contributor Colin Chase.
Bobcats usually mate from late February to late March and produce from one to five kittens in May. The babies stay with the mother for about 8 months but can stay up to a year old. The state has documented some interbreeding between bobcats and lynx and bobcat and domestic cats, according to MDIFW.
They like to hunt at dusk and dawn and seeing one in person is rare.
