Bobcats live from southern Canada through most of the United States to southern Mexico, and each bobcat is a wild cat that lives alone. A bobcat is named for its short tail, which is about 4 to 7 inches long. Its head and body are 65 to 105 centimeters long, not counting the tail. It weighs between 4 and 15 kilograms, which is 9 to 33 pounds. Tufts of fur grow on its ears, and its fur is shades of buff and brown, with dark spots or stripes.
Bobcats can live in a wide variety of habitats, including forests, mountains and brushland, but they like forest with thick underbrush. They climb well and swim well. A bobcat sleeps in a hidden den, often in a hollow tree. Its tracks are round, with four toe pads and no claw marks. Habitat loss is the main threat to bobcats. As of November 2026, the bobcat's conservation status is Least Concern.
Bobcats have strong senses of vision and hearing. They are mostly active around dusk and dawn. Dusk is the early evening, and dawn is the early morning. A bobcat is a patient hunter that stalks its prey and then pounces. It can run up to 30 miles per hour (48 kilometers per hour). Bobcats take whatever prey is most common where they live. They mostly eat rabbits and hares, and besides rabbits they eat squirrels, rats and mice. They also eat birds and reptiles.
Each bobcat marks its territory with scent, and a female bobcat's home range is smaller than a male's, while females' ranges rarely overlap one another. Kittens are born about 62 days after mating, and a mother usually has two or three at a time. They open their eyes at about 10 days old and drink their mother's milk for about two months. Young bobcats leave their mother in their first fall or winter, at about 8 months old. Some bobcats live up to 12 years in the wild.
Words to know
- habitat: animal's home place
- territory: an animal's area
- scent: a smell
- underbrush: low thick plants
- conservation: protecting nature
