Tag: bobcat

Bobcats

Bobcats have been pretty active lately, both in my yard and out in the wilder places. Bobcats live around 7 to 10 years in the wild. The oldest bobcat in captivity lived to be 32 years old. Bobcats can give birth to up to six kittens, though two or three is more common, depending on available prey.

This bobcat has a territory with the best view. Seasonal rains fill up this spot dubbed the Infinity Pool.

Judging by body size and spot pattern, this young bobcat appears to be new to the neighborhood. My backyard cameras catch her regularly.

Bobcat kittens at a desert pool

This is the second year my cameras have caught a bobcat family in this drainage. Last year there were also three kittens. The male operates from one eye, as his left eye appears damaged. He’s the one who took down a deer fawn last year in front of the camera.

Last night’s backyard Wildlife

It was a busy time in the backyard last night. A bobcat, coyote, and raccoon came through as well as smaller critters including a packrat, cottontail, and the screech owl fledglings. All four screech owlets appear in the last clip of this video. It’s good to see they are doing well in life after the nestbox.

Bobcat Catches Fawn

Sensitive content! I did not expect to see this when I checked a couple cameras this morning. While I’ve found several old mountain lion kills based on the surrounding evidence, I’ve never seen anything that I suspected was a bobcat kill. This trail cam capture surprised me because I was not expecting anything like this would be captured by the trail cams, even after years of watching thousands of trail cam videos of deer and other wildlife doing their thing. I’ve reluctantly watched it a few times because while nature is beautiful, she is also brutal. The fawn and her mother are going about their daily business, eating, drinking water… Then in seconds, for the fawn, death appears in the form of a bobcat. Seemingly out of nowhere. Despite our big brain and intelligence, we humans are no different than the fawn. Death is the great equalizer, it can strike us anywhere, anytime.

…

Last Night’s Backyard Wildlife

It was a busy 12 hours from before sundown to right after sunrise last night. An owl, deer, coyotes, raccoons and a bobcat. The first video shows the Great horned owl having a drink in the evening. The second video shows the mangy coyote the next morning. The third video shows all the action from evening to the next morning.

Great horned owl
Mangy coyote
All of last night’s wildlife

Backyard Wildlife Action

Here in Tucson the summer heat is upon us. We’re in the somewhat miserable time between the cooler temperatures of spring and the onset of summer monsoons. The highs have been from around 100 to 110 degrees and with most natural water sources having dried up the neighborhood wildlife have been visiting the backyard water sources more frequently. Below are some of the recent visitors:

Mule deer family with twin bucks in velvet
A peccary party with new babies
Thirsty coyotes
Thirsty bobcat

Sky Island Wildlife

I’m just back from a few days exploring one of Arizona’s sky islands. After receiving a bit of monsoon rainfall, the wildflowers and wildlife were quite abundant and the formerly dry landscape had turned green with new plant growth.

Can anyone help ID this plant? Copyright: Greg Joder.

Beautiful Lupine flowers with butterfly pollinator. Copyright: Greg Joder.

While exploring I also checked three trail cameras I’ve had in the region for several months. It was exciting to see all the critters captured by the cameras, including a sow black bear with two cubs.

I also had the chance to get this beautiful rattlesnake to move off the road:

Rattlesnake enjoying the morning sun. Copyright: Greg Joder.

 

Bobcat Kittens!

I’ve had a camera trap set on my backyard pond going on 7 years continuously. I generally check the cameras every morning to see what critters have stopped by. In that time I’ve found adult bobcats to be quite common. However, this morning I was surprised to see the resident bobcat had brought her young kittens in for a drink last night.

 

Backyard Wildlife Action

We’re entering the time of year where rain is sparse. Likely no rain until July. So, at this time, when many species are having young or just trying to survive, any water source is a means of survival. This video captures many of the common critters here in Tucson, Arizona, all from my backyard:

Camera Trapping

Camera traps are one of the best ways to observe wildlife behavior that you’d likely not see because it’s either dark out or your presence would alter the animals behavior. I bought my first camera trap around 2005 and was instantly addicted. I had no idea there were such shenanigans happening when I wasn’t around.

Mountain lion in the Sonoran Desert. Copyright: Greg Joder.

Now, in 2019, I have about 10 personal cameras set up in the desert around my home town, Tucson, including my backyard. I also have another 10 cameras set up at Audubon’s Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch near Elgin, Arizona. We use these cameras for long-term wildlife monitoring, recording which animals and how often pass through the research ranch.

In this post I’d like to share some backyard wildlife action my cameras recently captured.

A bobcat:

A coopers hawk:

A bat catching a sphinx moth at a cactus flower:

And a cute little western screech owl: