Unsure if you’ve spotted a bobcat or just a large house cat? Here are a few things to keep in mind.
Bobcats are usually elusive and mostly nocturnal. Combine that with outrageously good senses of sight and hearing, they usually see and hear us coming before we are even aware of them. That said, sightings do take place from time to time by motorists, hunters, and hikers.
Bobcats are also roughly twice as big as the average house cat. They have long legs, large paws (which help them quietly traverse through leaves in the forest), and tufted ears similar to those of their larger relative, the Canada lynx. Most bobcats are brown or brownish red with a white underbelly and short, black-tipped tail. In fact, the cat is named for its tail, which appears to be cut or “bobbed.”
Learn more about bobcats in Ohio: http://ow.ly/TaOy30mwquD
You are sure you have seen a bobcat, you can submit your sightings to our online Wildlife Species Sighting Report: wildohio.gov/reportwildlife You can include photographs or videos with your report, and latitude and longitude coordinates to help wildlife biologists quickly verify the sighting.