A Bobcat on New Year’s Day!

The scramble

soft approach vs. powerful retreat

retreat print showing the flick backward

next to human prints for scale

This looks similar to the crouch and face I saw just before it ran

But the ears were clearly dark-lined and tufted-more like the ears here

It was very stocky with thick back legs and a bobbed tail-like this

I was standing by this spot when I saw it

And this was the view looking downriver

 

A bobcat, indeed! I started off the new year with a gorgeous walk along the river in the snow. When I came to the final river lookout I turned to walk further toward the mountain which was peeking out from the mist. To my surprise, and his, a cat appeared about four feet away as it cleared the bushes. I saw its wide face with wild eyes and large, dark-tufted ears, and then its body turning all in a leap and its strong hind legs launching its bobbed tail away from me. What a beautiful animal!

I captured only its footprints and the large marks from where it scrambled to turn and run. But it was interesting to see the difference been its light footpads on the way to the river and its deeply marked clawed prints with a slip behind as it whisked away.

I added a couple photos from Google images showing as closely as possible how I saw its face. I couldn’t find one with the angle of the retreat I saw, but I included one that shows the stocky legs and a bit of the tell-tale bobbed tail. This was no house kitty!

The last two photos are of the place I was standing when I had this special sighting. What a great way to start the year!