After many hikes in the Bay Area looking for bobcats, my wife finally had her first encounter yesterday! I've been fortunate to see them on a handful of occasions, but only ever on trips that I had taken alone (including a brief view of one in Point Reyes National Seashore on Saturday). My wife has really wanted to see one, and she finally got her chance in Tennessee Valley. We had a fantastic encounter, including watching it finish eating a rodent then take a pounce at another, as well as cleaning itself after the meal and wandering through the brush. A nice first experience for sure! Strangely enough, her first sight of one in the wild came on the 1st anniversary of my first bobcat sighting. Since she was quite excited about seeing this beautiful cat, I let her pick which image I should post first. She thought this one was funny with the cat sticking its tongue out at us :)
Are you sure he isn't thinking about how good you guys would taste?! :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful shot, Pat! Sounds like you had a great encounter.
Congratulations to you and your wife Pat. Seeing a bobcat is always a thrill. I love the lush green in the photo. I'm hoping to see another before the grass turns brown.
ReplyDelete[Funny, John Wall!!!]
ReplyDeleteSomehow while clicking through blogland I landed on your site. You inspire me and I'm excited to grow beyond P & S.
I also love seeing these beautiful creatures not found in my area.
Lucky you two! Nice shot! Bobcats are so secretive. When stalking, they are so ferocious looking, not like a house cats with its tongue out like yours. I have seen one only once, crossing my snowed-in backyard several years ago. Wished I had a camera then.
ReplyDeleteThanks, John and lol. It is certainly possible the cat was thinking that ;-) Although we did actually see a true look of judging the potential taste of something later in the encounter. After it sauntered down by the lower trail and was cleaning itself in the bushes, a man walked by with a small, poofy white dog following behind. I'm not even sure if the man knew there was a cat in just off the trail, but the bobcat eyed the passing dog with a very intense stare!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jim! My wife was so excited to finally see one in the wild, and I was really excited to have such a long encounter that produced some reasonable shots.
Thanks, Gale! I'm glad you've enjoyed looking around my blog.
Thanks, Hilke! Bobcats are very secretive, that's for sure. This cat was ok with having the paparazzi around, but when it decided that the encounter was over, it simply disappeared into the landscape.
Great photo and I love the tongue out of the mouth! I hoped to see a bobcat for the 10 years I lived in Washington State and BC Canada and the best I managed was footprints in the fresh snow.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mick! It is amazing how even when you know they are in the area, it can be next to impossible to see one. They are really good at not being found when they prefer to be!
ReplyDeleteWe moved to tennessee a year and a half ago and used to live out in the backwoods. we had sightings of bear, deer, bobcat, coyote, fox, etc...but we never did get to see bear or bobcat. The coyotes, though...would come up to the house in the hot summer afternoon..and I swear they weighed at least 60 pounds.
ReplyDeleteI live in the TN valley and a few years ago I had a young bobcat come into my basement and under my boys bed. I had my hands on him and holding him by the scruff of the neck before I realized what I was holding. He brought his hind legs over his head and dug them into my arm. I can't even express how strong he was. He got loose in the boys room and it took about another hour and a few more family members to run him back outside. Beautiful animal. The wildest thing I ever touch, wouldn't do that again.
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