Bobcat Tracks

 

Twice last year I came across the unmistakable tracks of a bobcat at Fernald. They often see bobcats on their trail cameras, but I have never been that lucky. 

🐱  🐱  🐱

These bobcat tracks were on the little creek bridge next to the visitor center.

Bobcat tracks can be distinguished from coyote tracks by their overall roundness and the shape of the bottom pad, which has three tiny lobes on the bottom and two tiny ones on top. 

I also found muddy bobcat tracks a couple years ago on Fernald's wetland boardwalk with my Timberlands for scale.

I went to Point Reyes in California to look for bobcats and found two really distant ones on my first day. But the public access here frankly sucks as this fence demonstrates. Maybe one day I'll have that magical encounter, but for now these spotty cats elude me.