The beauty of living in Lake County is its abundance of wildlife. Deer, coyotes, raccoons and even an occasional mountain lion are often seen within the city limits of both Lakeport and Clearlake. However, there is another wildcat that calls Lake County home and is quite common. It”s the bobcat.
The bobcat is much smaller than its mountain lion cousin, an adult weighing only about 35 pounds although a few weigh up to 50 pounds. They are the most common wildcat in North America. Bobcats are brown with stripes or spots and have a short, stubby tail that sticks up in the air. The tips of their ears are pointed. Like all wildcats they are most active at night although they are often seen during the daytime. Bobcats feed on mice, other rodents, rabbits, birds and even an occasional small deer. They also have been known to eat house cats. They are opportunistic and attempt to take almost any prey available, including insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Mammals are the most common prey in the bobcat diet. They most frequently kill animals weighing 2-12 pounds.
At one time bobcats preyed on young sheep in Lake County, forcing ranchers to hunt and trap them. Their enemies consist of coyotes, mountain lions, domestic dogs and humans. They mostly roam at night and are very good at climbing trees.
Many local residents mistake juvenile bobcats for domestic cats. One resident, who lives in Buckingham, told me he had a large feral cat coming up on his deck at night. He showed me a picture of it and was shocked to learn it was actually a bobcat.
Bobcats breed from January to March and their young are born 62 days later. They normally have a litter of three to four kittens and the young are born with their eyes closed in dens such as hollow logs stumps and rock cavities. Their eyes open in three to five days. They are weaned at seven to eight weeks of age. They remain with their mother for five or six months. In the wild, they live from two to five years although a few live as long as 15 years. An adult bobcat has a range of about 10 miles.
In Lake County I have seen bobcats on Cow Mountain, in the Mendocino National Forest and around Indian Valley Reservoir. I also have seen them in the Clear Lake State Park where they are common. Early last week a motorist reported seeing a bobcat crossing Soda Bay Road. Just last month a woman who lives on Soda Bay Road shot a bobcat that was killing her turkeys. Bobcats have been sighted by hikers on the road to Mount Konocti. I was once camped at Bear Creek in the national forest and was enjoying a cup of coffee when a bobcat walked right up to me. He gave me a long stare and walked away. He was a beautiful creature.
Whereas it”s illegal to kill a mountain lion in California, unless you feel threatened, there is both a hunting and trapping season for bobcats. In fact, many people trap bobcats for their pelts. In California bobcats can be hunted from Oct. 15 through Feb. 28 and the limit is five per season. Hunters must have a current hunting license and special bobcat tags. Trappers can take bobcats from Nov. 24 through Jan. 31 and there is no limit although trappers are required to have a trapping license. In 2013 trappers and hunters took 1,607 bobcats in California and trappers took 11 bobcats in Lake County last year. A bobcat pelt sold for $350 in 2014. As a young man in Northern Minnesota I trapped bobcats and sold them for their pelts. We also received a bounty of $15 for every bobcat we caught.
Bobcat attacks on humans are extremely rare although there have been cases where a bobcat with rabies has bitten a human. A few years ago a rabid bobcat attacked and bit two humans in the southern part of the state. If you see a bobcat that doesn”t appear to be afraid of you and won”t leave, call the Department of Fish and Wildlife and report it because it might be rabid. Don”t attempt to confront it.
The bobcat is just one of the many wild animals that makes Lake County such a special place to live.
