The Bobcats are Coming Back to Warner
by George Packard on February 14, 2010 · 3 comments
Wildlife experts think there may be more or less one bobcat per town in NH. This Warner cat stood for her portrait in 2008.
In early February two years ago Chuck, our big black tough tomcat, developed, overnight, a sudden and complete disinterest in going outside. We’d had a few inches of fresh, wet snow, but I’d never known him to be a wimp about the cold. It wasn’t long before I discovered the cause of his concern: fresh bobcat tracks criss-crossing our yard. Chuck was (may he mouse in peace) a cat who never met a dog he thought he couldn’t take. But you don’t get to be 18 years old if you are a cat by making a whole lot of bad decisions. There was no doubt in Chuck’s mind. The only good bobcat is the one that’s on the other side of the door.
Our bobcat's calling card: just like a house cat, but much bigger.
A bobcat in Faith's drive staring down her dogs in early February.
Chuck’s nemesis prowled our place for about a week, which meant we had to change Chuck’s catbox a lot more than usual. We saw a lot more of Chuck that week, but never saw the big wild kitty. That’s why I was thrilled when Faith Minton, who lives on a hill just north of the center of Warner, sent around an email with a long shot, slightly blurry, of a bobcat sitting in her drive.
Faith’s neighbor responded with her own photo of a cat, possibly the same one, taken in March, two years ago.
In 1988, when trapping them was outlawed, there may only have been about 100 bobcats left in NH.
Ted Walski, an NH Fish and Game biologist, told a
Massachusetts newspaper last month that the reason we’re seeing more bobcats in the state may have a lot to do with the increase in numbers of wild turkeys. To say nothing of the fact that we’ve stopped trapping and shooting the cats here in NH. If you want to kill a bobcat you’ll have to go to Massachusetts and get in line for one of the 50 still allowed to be taken down there in that barbarous state. The only people trapping bobcats in NH are scientists from UNH and the Fish and Game Department to
fit them out with tracking collars so we’ll know where they roam. And roam they do. Females have a range of around 12 square miles, and males can range over three times that area.
Is it a coincidence that we’re seen our Warner bobcats in February and March? Probably not, because that’s when this last species of wild cat to live in NH goes looking for love. House cats, no matter how tough you think you are, take note.
Tagged as:
animals,
bobcat,
cats,
new hampshire bobcats,
warner nh,
wild predators,
wildcats
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Speaking of wildlife sitings – I heard last week from a neighbor up on Mason Hill that he saw a COUGAR while logging on Pumpkin Hill this winter!
Submitted on 2010/03/03 at 7:22am
Comment from Larry Sullivan:
Hello George. I was pleased to read your article about bobcats in Warner and to see Faith Minton’s wonderful photo. They certainly are back in Warner! This past spring, I drove down Howe Lane and turned right onto Newmarket Road. A few hundred feet on the right, in front of the sap house, I saw a strange animal moving on the side of the road. As I got closer, I realized that there were two bobcat kittens wrestling in the grass. I continued driving a short distance and then stopped and watched as they tumbled and played on the side of the road. I did not see an adult, though I’m sure that Mama was nearby. I then turned around and rushed back home to get Mimi and her camera. Unfortunately, when we returned they were gone. I told several people about my sighting, but nobody else knew of any recent bobcat activity. Besides our annual encounters with moose, coyotes, and bears here in the Mink Hills, we’ve also seen two fisher cats. They seem to be keeping the porcupine population under control! Thanks again for your article and your excellent venue. Best wishes. Larry Sullivan
Submitted on 2010/03/15 at 8:23am
Comment from David Minton:
Larry;
Would you please send over to Old Denny HIll Road those fisher cats you saw? We need them to control our porcupine explosion. Shot 16 of them in our field last year between April and October. They wreck havoc with the dogs (one was quilled 5 times) not to mention the apple trees. That is one animal that God put on this green earth….for what, I have yet to figure out.