Bobcat sightings have increased a dozen-fold in my suburban/urban neighborhood.

MaeZe

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And 30 minutes ago one was in my neighbor's backyard just across the street!

Sorry, no pictures but my neighbors have been posting quite a few. I am amazed. Before this I saw one once in my lifetime, driving on the coast highway late at night in CA. I felt blessed, sightings used to be rare.

Now all of a sudden my neighbors have seen one (or more??) 6 or 8 times just in the last few weeks. This guy is coming into fenced backyards. One pet cat ended up with stitches but no pet losses nearby so far.

My backyard backs to the forest but the yard the cat was in is yard-locked, houses on all sides.
 
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talktidy

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You jammie thing you! I'd love to see one, though I'd have to go to a zoo for the purpose.

The BBC recently broadcasted Big Cats, a bit of a misnomer that title IMO, because they included a tiny, rufous forest cat, and loads of other smaller cats. One species featured was a bobcat and I fell for her after watching her hunting technique. This consisted of her staking out a section of beach, where a stream fed into the sea (a favourite spot for seagulls) and breaking from cover in a mad gallop, and then launching herself at the birds, paws flailing. She got better -- lots better -- with practice. All the more remarkable, because she was blind in one eye.
 

Cobalt Jade

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We get coyote sightings here in the middle of Seattle. There's a big city park, a pocket wilderness, about a 1/2 mile to the north of where I live, and they congregate there and raise their cubs. From this ravine-filled, overgrown place they spread out into other areas, probably by following the train tracks that run along the beach.
 

R.A. Lundberg

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Bobcats are bad news if they are showing up in people's yards. They are typically shy of people and want nothing to do with us. If they are turning up in yards they've lost a lot of the fear. Pets are going to begin to go missing. Bobcats also carry rabies and bobcat fever, which is deadly to domestic cats (google it.) Not that they aren't pretty, you understand; they are gorgeous (I'm a cat guy). But they don't usually show up in suburban neighborhoods and that's best for all parties concerned. If they are, they need to be trapped and re-located, far away from us. That way they can do bobcat stuff and we can do people stuff and not get in one another's business.
 

mrsmig

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Wild creatures are opportunistic feeders - meaning they will search out not just the things they want to eat, but in places where they can expend the least amount of energy to obtain the calories they need to survive and breed. We provide them with easy pickings: our garbage, our gardens and bird feeders, sometimes even our beloved house pets.

But here's the thing. Those creatures are coming into our neighborhoods because they have no choice. Human activity and development has had an enormous impact on the "natural" places where wild animals feed and breed. When my husband and I moved into our home twenty years ago, there were several large forested areas and open fields within a mile of us. Now all those places are gone, bulldozed to make way for homes, shopping centers and parking lots. My seventy year-old suburban neighborhood, with its well-established trees and shrubbery, was the closest thing to "home" that those displaced creatures could find. I now have resident populations of hawks, deer, raccoons and red foxes. The hawks hunt the birds at my feeders. The deer eat the landscaping. The 'coons get into the trash. And the foxes dine on the mice and rats attracted to our waste, as well as the ubiquitous gray squirrels. Nearby counties also have packs of coyotes, although we haven't seen any - yet.

It's easy to say "trap and relocate!" in a situation like this, but a municipality can only "trap and relocate" wild animals if they have both the funds to do so, and someplace for those wild animals to go. It's easier and less expensive just to kill the wild things that end up in our back yards because we took theirs away. So we are essentially wiping out not just their habitats, but the creatures themselves.
 

MaeZe

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Bobcats are bad news if they are showing up in people's yards. They are typically shy of people and want nothing to do with us. If they are turning up in yards they've lost a lot of the fear. Pets are going to begin to go missing. Bobcats also carry rabies and bobcat fever, which is deadly to domestic cats (google it.) Not that they aren't pretty, you understand; they are gorgeous (I'm a cat guy). But they don't usually show up in suburban neighborhoods and that's best for all parties concerned. If they are, they need to be trapped and re-located, far away from us. That way they can do bobcat stuff and we can do people stuff and not get in one another's business.

Goodness, you sound like some of my neighbors. Bobcats don't have rabies in this neck of the woods. We have bat rabies here and raccoon distemper but the strain of rabies on the west coast hasn't been an issue with more than the bats.

As for pets, yeah, there's a bit of concern for those of us that have small pets. But the coyotes are equally a danger. And coyotes also jump fences (I looked it up).

If the bobcats are showing up in backyards, I'm guessing there are bird feeders they are attracted to.

Anyhoo... The King County Animal control isn't concerned. They actually posted a notice recently that they were not going to do anything about the occasional bears we have around here.

I would love to see a bobcat. Local wildlife is a good thing. But it is sad we are building up all their territory. That's why they're here. They've had to adapt to urban life.
 

MaryMumsy

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Here in metro Phoenix we have the occasional bear or mountain lion (puma or cougar, if you prefer). We also have coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, hawks, owls, and an occasional stray skunk. Animal control only handles domestic animals. Fish and game only comes out for bears, unless humans have been attacked. Bears are on a 3-strike rule. They will be trapped, tagged, and relocated. If a bear gets 'picked up' and already has two ear tags, it is euthanized. Not only has habitat been destroyed for housing and shopping centers, our years long drought is bringing more animals into populated areas for food and water.

MM
 

MaeZe

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I went to recheck and the recent notice about the bears in our NextDoor forum was from Bellevue Parks Department and referred questions to the email of someone in the Dept of Fish and Wildlife, so thanks for the correction MaryM.

The notice has a few more points of advice.
Black Bear
A new bear post so that the recent information is relayed. Added class info and WDFW black bear info in brief. Attached City of Bellevue Parks notice.

0. Never approach a bear. Call 911 if you feel threatened

1.. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has no commitment to remove the bear in the Bellevue-Kirkland area..

2. WDFW has only identified one bear in the area ...

4. WDFW will only remove the bear if the metrics call for the bear to have to be moved. e.g. we don't do our job in eliminating human/human supplied food sources that are hazardous to bear health and keep it from moving on.

5. IF you see the bear, email or call to help keep the metrics up to date ...

9. Black bears are common in Bellevue, usually the South side.

10. Diet: grasses, berries, nuts, tubers, wood fiber, insects, small mammals, fawns, elk calves, eggs, honey, carrion, and fish. Attracted to pet foods, carrion, compost, BBQ grills, garbage, bird feeders.....

12. Encounters If you spend time outdoors, your chances of seeing a black bear in Washington are fairly good. Attacks on humans are extremely rare; Black bears are not aggressive and avoid people..Only one fatality and four attacks have been recorded in Washington.
Of course one of our city council members was mauled by a bear (He's the mayor now) but that was at his vacation home near Lake Wenatchee, east of the mountains.
 

Introversion

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They're getting more common here in our central Massachusetts town too. I've seen three in our yard or on the driveway (I should preface that our house is surrounded by woods, in a very not-dense exurb setting):

1. For the first time, in the back yard. I cautiously opened the back door to snap a photo, and it bolted into the woods. Got a quick snap as it looked back over its shoulder, crossing the stone wall that borders our property.

2. Second, in the front yard, one walked right past our living room window. When I stood up from the sofa to get a better look, it saw the motion and bolted for the woods.

3. On the driveway, leaving for my morning commute, an obviously young cat doing a stand-off with a porcupine. Cat bolted one way, porky trundled off the other.

Here on the east coast rabies is a real worry, so I'm conflicted about seeing them around.

On the other hand, so far they've been harmless. As compared to the porkies, which are getting to be a nuisance. One of them seems to like gnawing on the trim around our garage door. :Shrug: And wow, do they sound weird -- first time I heard a pair in our yard at night, I was like, "Ohhhhh, whatever that is, that ain't right!" This article describes them as sounding like crazed Ewoks, and yeah if you watch the video of a tame one eating, they kinda do. :roll:
 
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Twick

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I saw a coyote when out birdwatching in a Toronto park this spring. Amazing how it kept out of sight of nearly everyone but me (and only because I was chasing down a warbler in the brush) even though the park was packed.

The year before I'd seen a fox and cubs, but if the coyotes have moved in, the foxes will have left.
 

MaeZe

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There was a bunny in my backyard this morning. I hadn't seen any for a couple years. I don't know where they are getting under the fence.
 

Marissa D

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I know there are bobcats nearby (also MA, Metrowest) but I haven't seen one--what I do often see are minks. There was a mink farm in town about 80 years ago, and the escapees settled down and seem to have done well over the years. I wish they'd eat more chipmunks.
 

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I understand that my neighbors have seen bobcats walk by my house, but I never have seen them. I saw a dead one last year... I'm still hoping to see a living one. Of course, I know there are bear everywhere, but I never see them either.
 

Alessandra Kelley

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No bobcats that I have heard of, but there are bald eagles nesting inside Chicago’s city limits.

Two years ago a wild cougar was shot and killed on the city’s north side.

The coyote incidents have been numerous, including some right in the heart of downtown.

And with my own eyes, sometimes in my own urban backyard, I have seen opossums, raccoons, foxes, coopers hawks, kestrels, snowy owls, pheasants, and many many rabbits.
 

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I'm not in America, so I have no personal experience of bobcats. I'm interested in cats and urban dwelling animals. I would guess bobcat numbers are rising because there is a decline in the fur business and I believe some states have stopped issuing licences to shot them. Bobcats are adapting to the urban life to find food and a place to live. Some animals become nocturnal to avoid people and cars . One thing is certain, the human population will be divided between the, Get rid and the leave them alone.
 
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Melty

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No bobcats that I have heard of, but there are bald eagles nesting inside Chicago’s city limits.

Two years ago a wild cougar was shot and killed on the city’s north side.

The coyote incidents have been numerous, including some right in the heart of downtown.

And with my own eyes, sometimes in my own urban backyard, I have seen opossums, raccoons, foxes, coopers hawks, kestrels, snowy owls, pheasants, and many many rabbits.

It's a rule of mine not to go outside past a certain part of the lawn at night. During the day, it's my territory, but at night, the coyotes and other animals own it. Of course, I live on an old farm in the rural area, but I know enough to know that I don't want to mess with the animals.

I have seen four bald eagles this year. One was hunting a duck in January, and the second tried to take the dead duck from the first. Then two in April, one scavenging a dead deer, and the other flew over me as I was walking near the river. Their numbers are on the rise, for sure.
 

ElaineA

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I'm not in America, so I have no personal experience of bobcats. I'm interested in cats and urban dwelling animals. I would guess bobcat numbers are rising because there is a decline in the fur business and I believe some states have stopped issuing licences to shot them. Bobcats are adapting to the urban life to find food and a place to live. Some animals become nocturnal to avoid people and cars . One thing is certain, the human population will be divided between the, Get rid and the leave them alone.

I wonder if, in the case of bobcats, which are known to be very skittish of humans, it's partly the way development in our area has gone. First, we're deep into their territory now (I live in the vicinity of MaeZe), but we're also creating "green zones" in and between developments, as well as many large-lot developments that butt up against the mountains. So as we encroach, we also provide little highways and by-ways for them to get deeper into the suburban zone, where lo and behold, there's some fancy feasting to be had. As we've scattered the coyotes with development, the bunny population has exploded, so besides neighborhood cats, there's plenty of prey to be found.

My neighbor and I have the COYOTES WELCOME sign up as both of our yards are being overrun with rabbits since our local coyotes sharply declined. I'll suggest we add AND BOBCATS to the sign. :D
 
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hester

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I'm jealous of all the amazing wildlife sightings!! In my neck of the woods, our wildlife runs to rabbits, raccoons, and the occasional opossum (I didn't know how large possums could get until I saw the one on our front stoop dining on the food I'd left out for the local feral cat family :D).
 

MaeZe

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There are different strains of rabies ironmike, and different epidemiology of the disease in different areas of the US. Bobcats in the northwest don't pose a particular danger of rabies. Any wild animal bite should be evaluated by a medical professional that knows the local risks.
 

MaeZe

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Wow, we have a cougar and three kittens in one of our greenbelts.

There's a picture on the city's FaceBook page: https://www.facebook.com/bellevuewashington

If it scrolls off I'll try to repost it.


Edited to add, apparently that's not a pic of the actual cougar :( but a cougar with three kittens was indeed spotted in the greenbelt.
 
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ElaineA

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!!! O_O !!!

I want to say coooool!, but I so worry about dog-walkers/joggers/hikers having a run-in and the FWS deciding they have to euthanize the cougar family. :(
 
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stephenf

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Bobcats do become more dangerous when infected by rabies, it makes them more aggressive. So you have the danger of being attacked and being infected. It is posable treat the wildlife with an oral rabies vaccine. I believe it would be a better long-term solution and beneficial to both the human and wildlife population.