[Blackcloud2]

He had noticed some large footprints on the hood of his new truck and investigated. Sure enough reviewing his home security cameras he found the culprit, a bobcat! Not surprising, they live right up against a desert mountain in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, which includes a couple of normally dry wash beds. Javalina, rabbits and quail are common, this is the first cat sighting though. His two young kids know to keep their distance and we can thank our many trips to Cabelas when they were still in strollers to look at the 'indoor zoo' of stuffed wildlife. They both always commented on the bobcat display and were schooled several times to understand that it was NOT a regular cat to pet and play with, but to stay away from them, which they reminded their dad of this morning when reviewing the video with him!

 

[SidecarFlip]

I always have cat prints on my hood, but then with 10 outside cats, they like to sleep on the hood and leave paw prints which pizzes me off.

 

[nmshieldshooter]

Good looking cat!! Maybe if it finds nothing to eat there it will move on.

 

[Cal44]

Is that really a Bobcat?

I've seen lots of domestic cats bigger than that. Even owned one 22 pounder that size.

Plus the tail is kind of long. Plus no tufts of fur on the ear tips that I can see in the picture.

Could be a hybrid.

 

[SidecarFlip]

My wife has one that size and he's one of the ones that like to snooze on my hood. Least I haven't wound any up in the fanbelt lately.... They make a helluva racket when they get in the serpentine belt.

 

[bearcat6]

That looks like a young one. Bobcats don't usually have long ear tufts, Lynx do.

 

[Blackcloud2]

Is that really a Bobcat?

I've seen lots of domestic cats bigger than that. Even owned one 22 pounder that size.

Plus the tail is kind of long. Plus no tufts of fur on the ear tips that I can see in the picture.

Could be a hybrid.

I've seen the paw tracks on the hood, it's larger than any normal cat I've ever possibly encountered and as to the ear tufts? You're seeing crappy home video in 'night mode'. I've seen many bobcats in my previous line of work, I'd pretty much guarantee this is one in the neighborhood. Our bigger concern is that a Mountain Lion doesn't show up, because the dry washes roll up far into the northeast areas of wilderness.

 

[ETF]

That's pretty cool.

I've only ever seen one once in over 20-years of country living.

As someone else said, the tail does look kind of long and it is a little on the small side so there is no telling.

We have cougars around here too but you almost never see them either.

We have feral cats in East Texas that are bigger than that thing. I know, I know, everything is always bigger in Texas. Now, they come up around the house quite often. I divide those in to two categories, one is a domestic cat that has got loose and the true feral cat. The wild domestic cat you can sometimes work with. The true feral cat can be a nasty, vicious piece of work and there is not much you can do with them.

 

[Thewelshm]

Jasper was bigger mate ... Maine **** cat

thewelshm

 

[GunsTrucksBoatsOhMY]

Our cats.

 

[ussmanlovede36]

Nice truck and hood ornament. Drive safely.

 

[LimaCharlie]

 

[SidecarFlip]

Jasper was bigger mate ... Maine **** cat

thewelshm

Nice tabby Paul... He use a litter box or the commode?

 

[Blackcloud2]

Bobcat update: My son brought my two youngest grandsters over this morning as he put up my Christmas lights (22 minutes expended because he doesn’t need a ladder), my little beauty of a gal who is going to be 7 in March, she told me she saw that bobcat the night before when her other Papa Bill and Nana brought her and her brother home after watching them that day. She told me; “Papa, he looked just like the one at Cabelas where we see the scary rattlesnakes.” You see? I know my grandkids well! What’s funny though, when my son and I were out stringing lights, she told my wife inside the house while setting up a ceramic Manger scene atop my mother’s old buffet, that the next morning when her daddy saw his truck, realized the bobcat had peed on his new truck, he used a VERY bad word, one she cannot ever say as per her parents! However, she did tell my wife she’d whisper it in her ear and did so, which made me laugh all afternoon after hearing this bit of news! What’s even more funny is my son has just completed his first week back at full duty and I watched a body cam video from yesterday; what he said in that brief violent encounter would make his ‘bobcat’ utterance acceptable in Sunday School service curriculums across the nation!

 

[Flygas]

Yes, definitely a bobcat.

 

[hiketheball]

Bobcat are the State Cat of Florida!
At least when I was a kid growing up in Florida.
Once, I walked across a bobcat. I saw it; then it saw me; screeched and high-tailed it.
We were about 10-15 yards apart.
Faster than I can imagine -- only about a 2 second encounter.