I am proud to announce the release of my new book titled; A Year in Nature with Stan Tekiela. See below.
3-18-11
Some wild animals are more elusive than others. No one knows this more than a wildlife photographer. The pursuit of these elusive critters to photograph is, to say the least, a major challenge, not to mention nearly impossible. However, recently I set out on a photographic adventure to find and photograph the elusive Bobcat (Lynx rufus). Joining me was fellow wildlife photographer Nathan Lovas. Together we were fired up to find these small cats.
We headed out west on a Tuesday morning with the goal of visiting several of our favorite western wild places. The objective was to place ourselves in an area at the right time of day with the best possibility to see and photograph a bobcat. It is kind of like, if you want to photograph a Golden Eagle you go to where Golden Eagles are most common. You can’t photograph a critter where they don’t occur. It sounds simple but you would be surprised how many photographers don’t get this. You must go to them, they don’t come to you.
Bobcats are fairly small, standing only 2 feet high and weighing only 15-30 pounds. I am often surprised when I am told by someone who had an encounter with a bobcat and they were worried about their own safety. These cats are only slightly larger than a domestic house cat or about the same size as a small to medium sized dog.
Bobcats make a living on small mammals such as mice, voles, rabbits and squirrels. They also take any bird they can catch. They will slowly and stealthily sneak up on something before pouncing on it, in only the way a cat can do it. They are really an opportunistic animal hunting any small critter they run across. If they find a ground nesting bird with babies they will eat it. If they scare up a rabbit while walking through a thicket they will chase the rabbit, and so on and so on.
They thrive in a variety of habitats. Here in the upper Midwest they tend to inhabit heavily forest regions away from people. In the American Southwest, such as Arizona, Bobcats thrive in the desert as well as suburban areas. I recall one winter my wife and daughter were spending a month or so in Arizona in a rental house and we had a Bobcat in our backyard, much to the consternation of our small dog, who really didn’t like it very much. I on the other hand, loved it.
Bobcats move around their territories on well worn paths looking for prey. Speaking of territories, a bobcats territory is fairly small with males holding and maintaining a larger territory than females. Each bobcat has their own separate territory. Males and females don’t stay together for any length of time. A typical territory is about 3-5 square miles.
Mating occurs in Feb and March. During this time females tend to sit for many hours waiting for the roaming males to find them. This can lead to females sitting in one place for 8 to 10 hours at a time. After breeding the female gives birth in a natal den wish is often located in a earthen bank, river bank, under a large rock or upturned tree. Dens are not large, with just enough room for the mother to turn around and give shelter to her tiny new born kittens.
Back to my photographic adventure. After four days of constant searching, in freezing temperatures and winds so strong we were afraid of being blown off a cliff, we found a grand total of three Bobcats. Two were fairly cooperative and allowed us to photograph them from a far distance. The third, which was the closest, ran away like a scared jackrabbit the moment we tried to photograph it. So the pursuit continues for the elusive Bobcat. We will continue this adventure this coming spring. Until then…
Stan Tekiela is an author / naturalist who travels the US to study and photograph wildlife. He can be followed found on Facebook.com and Twitter.com.