for the bobcat's move into areas 

 populated by humans. "In suburban 

 areas in the country, there's more 

 protection for the cats than in the open 

 country because there's less hunting 

 allowed." 



Traditionally, bobcats in North 

 Carolina have avoided the state's 

 heavily populated counties and concen- 

 trated in the Coastal Plain and Moun- 

 tains. 



"In years past, these were the areas 

 of the state with large tracts of unal- 

 tered habitat," Sumner says. "It appears 

 that habitat conditions have improved, 

 and bobcats have expanded their range 

 into other portions of the state in 

 response." 



The cat's habitat requirements are 

 simple — some forested or brushy land 

 for cover and partially open country 

 where it can hunt for small animals — 

 and a variety of habitats fills these 

 needs. Bobcats can survive in thickets, 

 swamps and pocosins, rocky or brushy 

 lands, woodlands and pine forests, 

 timbered mountains, deserts, farm 

 country and even the outskirts of cities 

 and towns. 



Because it can live in diverse 

 habitats, the bobcat ranges over more of 

 the United States than North America's 

 other two wild cats: the cougar (Felis 



concolor) and the lynx {Felis lynx). 

 Although the cougar stays close to the 

 rocky terrain from southern Canada to 

 southern South America and the lynx 

 requires the snowy climes of the 

 northern states, Alaska and Canada, the 

 bobcat is at home from southern 

 Canada to southern Mexico. 



Though bobcats (Felis rufus) 

 thrive in North America, 

 few people actually ever see these 

 elusive felines or know very much 

 about them. They are literally 

 under our noses but out of our 

 sight — possibly because they 

 are active at night or because 

 they are experts at hiding. 



In eastern North Carolina, pocosins 

 — swamps in upland coastal regions — 

 are favorite habitats because of the 

 resident marsh rabbits. But bobcats will 

 also wander to beach dunes, freshwater 

 marshes, swamp forests and savannas 

 where small rodents and rabbits are 

 plentiful and cover vegetation available. 



The first distribution map for 

 bobcats in North Carolina was drawn in 

 1955. Except for a handful of cats in 

 Anson, Richmond and Montgomery 

 counties, the population falls clearly in 



the Mountains and Coastal Plain. 



A map compiled in 1981 demon- 

 strates how North Carolina's economic 

 prosperity and associated building 

 boom benefited the species. The cat 

 shows up in all but 1 1 counties in the 

 Piedmont. 



Sumner has just updated the map, 

 and it's no surprise to him that bobcats 

 now inhabit the entire state. To come to 

 that conclusion, he plotted locations 

 where trappers and hunters had 

 harvested the cats. 



Determining their numbers is 

 another story. Because of their secre- 

 tive lifestyles, the cats are almost 

 impossible to count, Sumner says. 



Thanks to CITES requirements, 

 wildlife officials do know the number 

 of cats commercially harvested. The 

 bobcat is listed in the treaty as a 

 nonthreatened game species that must 

 be monitored to ensure its population 

 remains healthy. Pelts must be tagged 

 before sale and export, and the number 

 of these tags can alert officials to 

 species potentially at risk of overhar- 

 vesting. 



The bobcat season runs from the 

 middle of October until the end of 

 February, and currently there is no bag 

 limit. Though the precise numbers are 



Continued 



Missed Opportunity 



My 



When a friend and I camped 

 on Bear Island for a few days in the 

 summer of 1989, 1 didn't expect to 

 see a bobcat there. In fact, I didn't 

 even know at the time that bobcats 

 lived anywhere near our coast. I 

 was more interested in snapping 

 photos of turtles' nests and sunrises. 



But early on our second 

 morning, as we walked over the 

 dune from our campsite toward the 

 ocean, my friend espied one of the 

 fleet-footed felines scooting away 

 from us across the sands. 



"Bobcat!" my friend yelled. "I just 

 saw a bobcat!" 



I whirled, followed the line of the 

 outstretched arm before me and raised 

 my camera to aim and shoot. But the 

 cat was gone. 



We found tracks farther down the 

 beach that afternoon, and I rued my 

 missed opportunity. I wondered how 

 many campers before me had seen — 

 or almost seen — one of these reclu- 

 sive creatures. 



That night every rustling noise 

 outside the tent sounded to me like a 



bobcat on the prowl, but we saw no 

 more signs of a feline visit. 



In the years since, I have often 

 thought about this experience and 

 finally decided that I shouldn't feel 

 cheated. Like all wild animals, a 

 bobcat deserves its space and its 

 distance from humans. 



Even so, now that I know 

 bobcats and people in North 

 Carolina are inhabiting more of the 

 same space, I hope for another 

 chance to glimpse a bobbed tail 

 in retreat. □ — Doun Daemon 



COASTWATCH 19 



