Order RODENTIA 123 



mysterious scream has led persons to believe a lion or "cata- 

 mount" to be present, when only a bobcat has been hunting in 

 the neighborhood. 



Signs. — The bobcat makes tracks, fig. 19, similar in shape to 

 those of the house cat, but the prints of the individual feet are 

 each about 2 inches in diameter (as compared to 1 j/£ inches for 

 those of the domestic cat), and the heel pads produce more com- 

 plicated patterns. When the animal is walking, the hind feet 

 (which are smaller than the front feet) often overstep the 

 front feet. 



Distribution. — The bobcat, which is now rare in Illinois, 

 occurs in wooded bottomlands, fig. 3, of some of the major 

 rivers in heavily wooded regions of southern and possibly of 

 northwestern Illinois. The Illinois bobcat belongs to the sub- 

 species Lynx rufus rufus (Schreber). The present range of the 

 species includes western North America from southern Canada 

 to central Mexico; across northern United States and southern 

 Canada to Nova Scotia and the lower Appalachians; across 

 southern United States to southern South Carolina. 



ORDER RODENTIA 

 Rodents or Gnawing Animals 



The rodents, or gnawing animals, have only two incisors or 

 front teeth and no canine teeth in each jaw. The incisors of the 

 upper jaw are especially large and chisel shaped. Most rodent? 

 occurring wild in Illinois have relatively long tails. In both 

 numbers of kinds and of individuals, the rodents are the most 

 numerous of all mammals. They comprise about three-fifths of 

 the number of species of the North American mammalian fauna. 

 Twenty-five species of rodents are found in Illinois, most of 

 which are various kinds of squirrels, rats, or mice. The largest 

 rodent in Illinois is the beaver; the smallest is the western har- 

 vest mouse. 



Economic Status. — Members of the order Rodentia, both 

 native and introduced, are of tremendous economic importance 

 in Illinois. For example, a single species, the Norway rat. costs 

 the taxpayers several million dollars a year as a result of the 

 spoilage of food and grain, damage to buildings and merchandise, 

 predation on poultry and native birds, and transmission of dis- 

 ease. Money spent in attempts to control this rat amounts to 



