122 



Order CARNIVORA 



Fig. 72.— Bobcat. 



provides an ideal hunting ground for the bobcat, since mice, 

 rabbits, squirrels, birds, and insects upon which it feeds abound 

 there. 



A bobcat den may be located under a log, within a fallen 

 hollow log, or within a standing hollow tree. A nest in a dense 

 thicket may occasionally serve as a home. Little is known about 

 the life history of the bobcat in Illinois. Information gained 

 from studies in other states indicates that young are born in 

 March or April, that there is one litter of about three each 

 year, and that the young leave the care of their mother and the 

 company of their brothers and sisters late in the summer. The 

 rate of development of the young bobcat is similar to that of the 

 young of the domestic cat. 



The bobcat apparently covers a large territory in its hunting, 

 for an individual seen in a given place one day may be a con- 

 siderable distance away the next week. This cat, especially 

 during the mating season, may render a weird and eerie series 

 of yowls and meows somewhat like that of the common house cat, 

 but louder, huskier, and infinitely more mysterious. A harsh, 



