R-USN -2- 6/19/31 



Under s-uch conditions, the stocknr.n or famer has no choice but to take 

 steps to check the "bobcats. Mr. Youn^- says the best way to do that is by traoping. 

 Bobcats raaybe cau^^-ht in traps of the comraon double- spring steel type, sizes 2 and 

 3, such as have been used by traopors for many generations. 



Sor.e folks think such traps ?j:c inhxmane, but Mr. Young declares that no 

 better or r.ore practical device has as yet been invented to t^tke their place. 



And the famer who has had a bobcat sneak into his flock of she ip needs 

 an effective device. 



Ordincirily, the bobcat cones under cover of darkness. It works quietly 

 and swiftly in a flock of sheep, and often causes little coOT^.otion. The lar.b is 

 most often killed by a characteristic bite on the back of the neck or head. Then 1 

 is pulled down to be eaten. If the lust for killing is not satisfied, the bobcat 

 nay kill other lanbs the sa^ae way. It nay keep working quietly until it has 

 killed nan.y. In fact, a single bobcat has been known to kill J,S lanbs in one 

 night . 



The bobcat is related to the nountain lion, though it is a niuch snaller anir 

 and has socowhat different habits. Its larger cousin, the Canada lyr.z, is found 

 in the northern, nore forested parts of the United States. 



The bobcat has keen sight and a good sense of snell, though not as keen 

 a sense of sr.:ell as a wolf or a coyote. Mor,t of its hunting for food is done 

 at night . 



As you r.iay know, the cor:-on bouse cat is the only cat that has ever been 

 domesticated, still we can't trust the peaceful Tabby out of the house after dark. 

 Even after thousands of years of as.;oci--'tion with hunan beings, the house cat is 

 only a part-tir-e pet. It reverts to the v/ild on slight provocation and becones 

 a prowling killer, especially after dark. 



These other cats, however, are savage destroyers, the wildest of the wild 

 working at it full tine. 



Those who know these predators have no hoDC that they will ever refom. 

 Whatever it is that Liakes a wild cat wild scens to run in the faiiily. 



And in traoping bobcats, the farncr or stockman needs to take advantage 

 of sono of their well-known habits. For instance, a bobcat v/ill genera.ll;'' step 

 over a root or a rock or a clunp of grass in its path. So Mr. Yo-on.; sut;gests that 

 either single or double blind sets my be used. In this case, traps should be 

 placed in holes dug directly in the trail of the bobcat and just beyond such an 

 obstruction. When the bobct steps over, it steps in the trap. A. better set, 

 according to Mr. Young, is the scont set. When one of these is r.ade, a scent 

 attractive to bobcats is used to lure the aninals to the traps. These trrps 

 should not be olaced in the runway proper, however, as with blind sets, but off 

 to one side parallel with the trail. 



