Even the dog backed off from this (bob)cat!

“Grandma, there’s a baby bobcat in the flower bed!”

That call came to Sylvia Eads of Lake Viking from her granddaughter, Sara Friesz.

Sure enough, the bobcat had wandered right up into the yard. He had all the classic markings, tan, with long sideburns on his face, tufted ears with white spots near the tips, and the bobbed tail.

Sylvia’s dog was barking frantically at the cat, but not taking any chances.

“I’ve never seen that dog back off from anything before,” Sylvia said.

She called Ron McNeely, a Wildlife Damage Biologist with the Daviess County Conservation Department. Upon his advise, she took a broom out and told the bobcat to “Shoo.”

He wouldn’t shoo.

Agent McNeely then arrived with a cage. He put a blanket over the cage and got the cat in — but then the cat got out again.

“He was an evil-minded, evil-tempered little thing,” laughed Mr. McNeely.

For whatever reason the bobcat ran onto Sylvia’s porch and made himself at home in the dog bed, where for a minute he resembled a large everyday house cat.

But just for a minute.

Agent McNeely finally got him back in the cage. He took the bobcat away and released him into the wild

Mr. McNeely figured Sylvia’s bobcat at about six or eight weeks old.

Bobcats are generally wary of humans.

“My guess is it made a wrong turn and came up into the grassy yard,” said Agent McNeely. “There’s quite a bit of shrubbery around the house.”

Bobcat sightings are becoming more common in our area. Sightings of the cat itself, tracks, and increased road kills indicate their population has increased quite a bit in the last six or 10 years.

Bobcats were abundant in our area in the pre-settlement days. They disappeared and weren’t around much at all until the late 70’s. The cats have expanded their range, coming up from southern Missouri.

In previous years, Bobcats were protected North of I-70. They have gotten thick enough that hunting and trapping season opened on them for the first time last fall in this part of the state.

Bobcats are about twice the size of a house cat. Males in North Missouri average 30 pounds and females 20.

Females generally have a litter once a year with three of four offspring on average. Like most wild animals, the babies are usually born in the spring; but bobcat young may also be born later in the fall of the year.

“A bobcat born in April or May will be weaned in June,” said Agent McNeely. “The mother may keep it until October or November. Then they’re on their own.”

It’s a rough life for the big cats.

“Wild bobcats aren’t as well cared for as house cats, of course,” said Mr. McNeely. “They’re not wormed or taken to the vet. Many die of internal parasites or distemper. By their first birthday, most of them will have died or been killed. Their life span averages eight to ten years.”

Bobcats have few natural enemies, coyotes, wolves and man.

“A pair of coyotes in open area can string him up,” said Mr. McNeely. “A good hunting dog can chomp him right up.”

Bobcats are strictly meat eaters, according to Mr. McNeely.

“They take a lot of mice, some rabbits,” he said. “They’ll eat raccoons, which a coyote would never do.”

While bobcats will occasionally take young fawns and young turkeys, Mr. McNeely says they are not a serious predator to either.

Agent McNeely is one of five damage biologists in the area and has been a conservation department employee for 26 years. He was on a wildlife refuge in the Ozarks several years ago and bobcats were common there then. At that time he was able to observe and learn about bobcats.

“Over the years, I’ve never observed much problems with bobcats taking livestock. If they do, it would be very small pigs or baby lambs. It’s very unlikely they would kill larger livestock of any kind. People will try to tell you that a bobcat’s been killing their calves. It will turn out to be a coyote or a dog or something else.”

Agent McNeely says people’s concerns that bobcats will decimate the small game population are ill-founded.

“I’m not trying to protect the bobcat,” he said. “These are simply my observations. I’d like to lay people’s fears to rest. Bobcats are not a serious threat to turkey, deer, or livestock.”

Bobcats may make loud screams, hisses and other sounds during courtship, otherwise they’re usually silent. And secretive. It’s unlikely you’ll come up on one in the wild.

“A healthy bobcat poses no threat to people,” said Agent McNeely. “Thirty-one years ago I was looking forward to being around bobcats in the Ozark refuge. I was disappointed. Bobcats are not the ferocious, dangerous animal I imagined they’d be. I’ve worked with coyotes a lot. Comparing the bobcat to the coyote, the coyote is a more cunning, intelligent animal than the bobcat.”

Mr. McNeely believes the bobcats should be taken as a welcome addition to our area’s wildlife community.

“I turned 60 in June,” says Mr. McNeely. “I was born and raised south of Gilman City. I can remember at time when there was no deer, no turkey, almost nothing. Now we have a wealth of wildlife out there. A friend of mine remarked that we have a ‘wildlife utopia.’ I agree and I think people should enjoy it.”