Florida panthers are very rare AND we don't really live in that remote of an area, so my guess is that they were bobcats. But seeing three bobcats is, in itself, pretty unusual.
She is the third neighbor that has told me that they have seen a pair of large unidentified animals in our neighborhood in the last six months or so. Much to my dismay, one neighbor even had a beautiful bobcat trapped and removed, so I was a little surprised that I keep hearing that at least two of them are still around. (I'm just assuming that what everyone is seeing are bobcats, since I have seen them on my own property before, although I think the one that I was seeing was the one that got trapped).
We live close to town but everyone in our neighborhood has at least two acres and some of us have kept our lots wooded. Many of the neighbors raise chickens and have duck ponds which is probably what keeps the bobcats (and foxes) hanging around.
They are truly beautiful creatures and it would be nice if all of us could coexist in this neighborhood.
I was out walking around my property looking for evidence of bobcats yesterday and found an area in my yard with miscellaneous piles of animal droppings in it. I did a little research on the internet and found out that it is common for wildlife species to all use the same spot for depositing their scat. The references I found online called it a wildlife latrine.
Just another great example of how educational a wildlife habitat at home can be.
© Betsy S. Franz is the author of "How to Take Care of Your Share of the Planet"
1 Comments on Bobcats back in town?, last added: 5/4/2010
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Bobcats frequent my terrain also. Tim Mallow once told me they travel most of the time and use a "highway" routinely if food is available. Gorgeous, they are reclusive. One large one crossed the street about one hundred yards from me, and did not want any contact at all, just wanted to travel a grassy wetland. It used the road although there are three culverts it could have used.