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BOBCATS IN FLORIDA

Florida Bobcats Images & Information

Updated bobcat sightings: Sarasota Area   Other Areas

      St Cloud FL Bobcat, photo by Lea Ann D

Bobcats in Florida

4/11/2007
Hi There,

I noticed your website listing sightings of Bobcats… It has been a lifelong dream of my husband and me to see a bob cat in the wild… We are avid birders and I am an amateur photographer.. so to me, to photograph one of these animals in it’s natural setting was at the top of my list of goals…

Early Easter Morning, Sunday April 8, 2007.  My husband decided he would go fishing at Sebastian Inlet.. I stayed home to go “birding” and looking for anything “wild” to photograph around where we live in Saint Cloud, Florida.  I was in a very familiar area looking for Bald Eagles and Caracara when to my amazement a female bobcat came walking across the road in front of my car!! She was absolutely beautiful!! 

I have a very long telephoto lens (500mm) which is very difficult to hand hold and photograph a clear shot.. but I didn’t have time to set up my tripod.  So I had to really try to steady (all while shaking from exciting and the weight of it all)..I took several photos while walking behind her and was very pleased to have captured the shot below.  WOW!! What an awesome experience!!  She was unafraid of me and I never felt afraid of her.  I kept what I felt was a safe distance, and she and I took a very long look into each other’s eyes… then she slowly walked off into the tall grass!!  We spoke to some of the folks who live right near where I spotted her and they state she has a cub and is seen often with it.
Lea Ann D
St. Cloud FL

 
North Port FL Bobcat, photos by Kevin

4/10/07
We live in North Port, off Chamberlain on Marasco and have seen this Bobcat on several occasions.  Today, we were finally able to take these pictures around 11:00 a.m. 
Thank you, Kevin

9-26-06
I live in Ivy Lake Estates in Odessa in Pasco County, right off the suncoast. My wife and I both have seen a Florida bobcat in our back yard. They walk across and go into the green belt behind our house. We saw her again this morning and she has 3 small kittens with her.She jumped a fence built around the retention pond built by the state, the kittens tried to climb the fence near a post and jump over but only made it to the top and never jumped over the fence.  After approx. five minutes she came back and took them back into the green belt.  Very distinctive, reddish, tan with spots and a short tail, with very distinct pointed ears.

12/1/06
 I LIVE IN TAMPA. ITS RIGHT BESIDE OLDSMAR, IN A WOODSY NEIGHBORHOOD WITH ONE ACRE AND MORE PER LOT.  YESTERDAY IN MY BACKYARD I SAW TWO CATS SITTING OUT IN A SUNNY CLEARING.  I TOOK A SECOND LOOK AND RAN FOR MY CAMERA.  IT MUST HAVE BEEN A MOMMA AND A BABY BECAUSE THE SMALLER ON WAS MOSTLY TAN.  IT WAS AWESOME.  I HOPE THEY STICK AROUND.  I RAN TO ALL MY NEIGHBORS AND SHOWED THEM THE PICTURE. 

Florida Bobcats

Bobcats are reclusive and not often seen. They normally do not want to be near people. This bobcat was across a parking lot from a 6 lane state road, and a block from I-75. Bobcats are beneficial, eating rats and mice.

Bobcats in Florida are neither rare or endangered, as a limited bobcat season exists statewide. Their density runs as high as 80 individuals per 100 square miles. But they are reclusive creatures. The bobcats tend to stay out of the developed areas, but they often aren't far away. 

According to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) regional public information director Joy Hill, “Most people living in Florida will never see one.” Weighing in at less than 35 pounds, the average bobcat sticks to a territory of between five and six square miles. Primarily hunting at night, they track down rabbits, rats and other small mammals along with small birds.

PANTHER PHOTO & SIGHTINGS IN SARASOTA

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Bobcat Sound
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Myself, my sister and 5 children saw a bobcat just as you pictured on Wednesday, Nov 23, 2005  about 4:30 p.m. in Lakewood Ranch Country Club.  So cool!  We feel so lucky and thought you might want to know.  M. Bush

1/16/06 Hi just thought you might want to know that we saw a bobcat in our back yard last Wednesday (01/11/06) it was about dusk and my three dogs started to bark I walked on the lanai and there he was about 15 feet away beautiful!!!  but I think he was wanting the dogs for dinner!! We live in panther ridge (East Bradenton) off of SR70.

2/12/06 I was looking outside my back yard and saw a bobcat walking right across my yard  and into the woods behind my house.  We are located off of Toledo Blade and Price Blvd. This cat was pretty big!  He was beautiful.  He was more spotted with a yellowish brown marking.  I was so awed!!  I have never seen anything like that coming from up North.  I wish I had gotten my camera!  Next time.

2/15/06 Just saw a bobcat this am crossing through our yard to go into the thickly wooded empty lots behind us. this is the 4th time I have seen a bobcat while living in Port Charlotte. When I lived on Forrest Nelson Blvd, I saw a pair of bobcats walking down the pathway, in front of my condo at about 6 pm. I did take a picture, but lost the film. Might not be as rare as you think... S. Knapp

2/17/06 My wife saw a Bobcat last evening when she went to turn on our sprinkling system. He was tan in color and had a short tail. Our house is adjacent to woods on one side and a ravine on the other. We live in Heritage Harbour in Bradenton off Rt. 64. This is the second sighting near our house. The tile guys saw one last November behind our house.   P. Capello

2/28/06 This morning I saw a bobcat that was killed on the road on 98N (South Florida Avenue) in Lakeland. The carcass was on the right shoulder 1/4 - 1/2 mile south of Barry Motor Sports. Interestingly, I saw a bald eagle lifting off with a rabbit at the same time of day in the same area two months ago.
On the way home from work, I saw another bobcat (live) in Bartow. The cat was walking through a recently cleared field on the corner of Clower and 555. There is no question in my mind that both animals were bobcats.
I wanted to share with you because I have never seen a bobcat or panther or anything like that in the wild and am very excited... Brad from Bartow

3-27-06
I saw a bobcat this morning on an off road mountain biking trail in Hillsborough county north of hwy.  672,  east of Boyette Rd.   I saw him about  10 to 12 feet ahead of me just around a curve in the trail.  I stopped my bike and watched him run about 20 ft or so further down the trail before cutting into the woods.  Needless to say, that was the highlight of my day!   -Wayne  

April  18. 2006
 I had a young bobcat chasing a squirrel up and down my oak tree in the Manchester Waterway area of Port Charlotte. He looked as if he had been in the canal. Missed the outcome of the play/meal.
Phyllis F.

6/3/06

Hello!~ I was reading your web site because I saw a bob cat this morning.  So I will say that was a huge surprise and I do wish I had my camera nearby.  But alas!

He (or she) was a tawny beige color and not as heavy as I would have expected a bob cat to be, but it was about 2 feet high at the shoulder and a little longer than that from chest to rump.  It had large ears that stood straight up when I stopped short to look at it standing in my  neighbor's yard here in Clermont.  He (she) then bolted for the wooded area diagonally across the street, bounding as it went.  Very impressive and awe inspiring to see it free and natural.

I think it really was a bobcat, although it was lighter in weight and slinker than I would have thought and lighter in color.  It did not have spots.

This was way too large a cat to be an oversize house cat.  It actually looked like a young panther, but it had a bob tail, which I do not think panthers have.  The shape of the head was more like a lion or panther, but I do not imagine that we have panthers/lions here.  So I can only guess that it was a skinny bob cat.

There are baby rabbits in the neighborhood.  So it may have been hunting here when I surprised it.  Beautiful creature.  Save our green areas and we will have more wildlife in our environment.  - Anita K.

6/23/06
I saw a bobcat in my yard last night. At first I wondered what kind of domestic cat would have big ears and a large head and then I realized that it was a bobcat. It  ran off into the woods behind us. What a rare sight! I live in Gates Creek (Hwy 64 & Upper Manatee River Road).
Valeri

I also saw a bobcat on 6-23-06 in North Fort Myers (near Charlotte county line). I didn't know what it was a first.  It ran out in front of my truck on a dirt road and I thought what kind of animal is that.  Long legs with bobbed tail and tall pointed ears!  How beautiful the creature was.  I am from California and our bobcats are shorter and furrier.  Never thought I would see one up that close and about 3 miles from my house.  Thanks for letting me share with you. Laura

7-15-06  I noticed your site on the net and see you are looking for bobcat sightings! We are located in Arcadia, FL, and we have  around out ranch which love to go off @ 3AM when the wild animals are out prowling. After one alarm we where lucking enough to see a bobcat come up to the house, prance around our cars, then stroll off to the barn. Sighting was 7/15/06.

Our wild animal sightings have been few since Hurricane Charley.

9-17-06 Hi I came across your site and wanted to tell you I just saw a bobcat outside my window. Beautiful! he was sitting just watching me through my window. When I made a move he ran. I am located in Port St. Lucie in a neighborhood beginning development. I love your site and I'll be sure to add it to my favorites.
 

9-26-06
I live in Ivy Lake Estates in Odessa in Pasco County, right off the suncoast. My wife and I both have seen a Florida bobcat in our back yard. They walk across and go into the green belt behind our house. We saw her again this morning and she has 3 small kittens with her.She jumped a fence built around the retention pond built by the state, the kittens tried to climb the fence near a post and jump over but only made it to the top and never jumped over the fence.  After approx. five minutes she came back and took them back into the green belt.  Very distinctive, reddish, tan with spots and a short tail, with very distinct pointed ears.