164 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 66 



Wildlife Service, Fur Catch in the United States, 1966, Wildlife 

 Leaflet 478). 



/Specimens examined, — Montgomery County : Glen Echo, 1. District 

 of Columbia: 3. 



Other records and reports. — Calvert County : Chesapeake Bay, near 

 Stoakley (LeCompte, 1937: 15). Garr'ett County: Deep Creek Lake 

 (Browning, 1928, p. 213). Harford County: Edgewood Arsenal area 

 (personal observation). Montgomery County: Great Falls (identified 

 from photograph taken by L. G. Henbest, February 1964). Washing- 

 ton County : near Leitersburg (Washington, D.C., Herald, 7 January 

 1909). Worcester County: Assateague Island (personal observation). 



Family FELIDAE (cats) 

 BOBCAT 

 Lynx rufus rufus (Schreber) 



Felis rufa Schreber, Die Saugthiere . . . , Thiel 3, Heft 95, pi. 109b, 

 1777. 



Type locality. — New York. 



General distribution. — In the eastern United States, this race formerly oc- 

 curred from central New England south to northern Georgia, and west into the 

 Dakotas, Iowa, Kansas, and Oklahoma. It is now absent or rare in the Coastal 

 Plain in the southern portion of its range except in Virginia's Dismal Swamp. 



Distribution in Maryland. — Formerly statewide in distribution, but 

 now confined primarily to the Allegheny Mountain and Eidge and 

 Valley sections. It has been entirely exterminated in the Eastern Shore 

 section and is only rarely encountered in the Western Shore and Pied- 

 mont sections. 



This species is uncommon enough in Maryland to produce local 

 newspaper accounts when one is taken. 



Distinguishing characteristics. — Teeth 3/3, 1/1, 2/2, 1/1, = 28; 

 general appearance catlike, but considerably larger than a domestic 

 cat, averaging about twice as much in size and weight; body short; 

 ears prominent and with small conspicuous tufts on the tips; eyes 

 large and with eliptical pupils; tail very short, less than a fourth of the 

 total length of the animal; pelage fairly long and loose; coloration of 

 upperparts grayish to brownish, darker along the midline, and spotted 

 and blotched throughout; abdomen and inner sides of legs white, 

 prominently marked with black spots; tail always tipped with black. 



The only Maryland mammal with which the bobcat may be con- 

 fused is the domestic cat, from which it is readily distinguished by 

 its larger size and short black-tipped tail. 



Measurements. — No external measurements are available for Mary- 

 land or District of Columbia specimens in the National collections. 



