The pasture to my left was full of does. I watched them, and they started acting a little skittish. It's the rutting season, or near the end of it, anyway, so I thought perhaps there was a buck coming toward the does. They can get a little weird if they're not in the mood when a buck comes around.
I called to my husband to come and look at the deer out the bedroom window, and I got up and went in there myself.
The deer were indeed acting strangely. To my surprise, I saw this huge hulking cat-looking thing standing up like a cat might do if attacked as a doe approached it. The doe was going after it. I've seen does pounce on other animals before, and it isn't pretty. Once I saw a doe stomp on a neighbor's cat before I could get outside to scare the deer and save the pet. The cat didn't die, at least, not then - it ran like crazy for home and I never saw it again.
The cat I saw this morning had a large head with pointed ears and a short tail with a touch of white on it. The light was low due to the early hour and clouds, so the animal looked dark. It was as big as a large racoon, but this was no racoon.
My husband arrived at the window just as the animal sprinted toward the woods.
"That was a bob cat," I said.
"Either that or a really big feral cat," my husband replied. But I am sure it was a bobcat.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture. This is the first time we've seen a bobcat on the farm. I saw one when I was young on my father's farm, but I haven't seen one since.
A bobcat (Lynx rufus) has a distinctive appearance and is generally solitary in nature. It is a medium-sized wildcat, typically weighing between 14 to 40 pounds, with males generally being larger than females. It has a short, "bobbed" tail, from which it gets its name, and its coat varies from tan to grayish-brown with black streaks and spots that provide excellent camouflage in its natural habitat. The bobcat's ears are black-tipped with short tufts, and its face appears wide due to ruffs of extended hair beneath the ears.
That's almost exactly what I saw before the animal ran for the woods.
Bobcats are highly adaptable and can thrive in a variety of environments, including deciduous and coniferous forests, swamps, and even urban edges. In Virginia, they are commonly found in the Appalachian Mountains (that's where I am) and the dense forests of the Piedmont region.
They primarily hunt small mammals such as rabbits, hares, and rodents. They are also known to prey on birds, insects, and occasionally larger animals like deer. Bobcats employ a stalking and ambushing technique, using their keen senses of hearing and vision to locate prey before pouncing with precision. Their diet varies based on the availability of prey in different seasons and habitats.
It was amazing to see a bobcat outside of my window. I hope I see it again - with a camera in my hand, this time.
I saw a bobcat once and couldn't believe my eyes! I thought it was a fat fox at first but other people reported sighting it.
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