What's the value of a pet bobcat compared to a wild bobcat?

Georgia Department of Natural Resources in their bobcat fact sheet say that the economic value of a bobcat in their state can be boiled down to the value of their pelt which is $25-$70 per pelt depending upon pelt size, colour, fur thickness and spottiness. I believe the last word refers to the number of spots on their coat. The more spots the more attractive it is, is my guess.

Difference between lynx and bobcat. Image: MikeB

Wild bobcats

So, the value of a wild bobcat is around US$50 because it's just the value of their fur. Of course, I hate the thought of trappers and hunters killing bobcats for their skin but a lot of people like doing it. Trappers in Georgia harvest annually between 1,200 and 1,800 bobcats while those that shoot them harvest between three and five times more. Enough said. It's horrible for me. I don't know if the flesh of the bobcat is then eaten by the trappers or sold. I would doubt it. If it is, it will add slightly to the value.

Pet bobcats

As for pet bobcats, I wouldn't advise adopting one, buying one or looking after one. If you are set on the idea then you've got to be very knowledgeable and very well equipped both financially and in terms of facilities. We should leave bobcats alone in the wild to live their lives naturally. To adopt one as a pet is self-indulgent.

Apparently Big Cat Rescue say that a bobcat kitten is usually priced around US$900. My research indicates that you can get hold of a bobcat cub for around US$1,000 but they might go up to US$1,500 or there might be a bit cheaper. This is similar to the price of a purebred domestic cat.

20x more expensive

So, you can see that a pet bobcat, which I presume has being somewhat domesticated through socialisation, is around 20 times more expensive than a wild bobcat.

Of course, all my references are to America which is where the bobcat is mainly distributed. They live in North America but not far into Canada because it's too snowy.

How long do bobcats stay with their mother?

The answer to the question in the title is a little bit elastic because the moment when young bobcats no longer stay with their mother is itself elastic and they disperse at various ages. Essentially the answer is: until 7-12 months of age, but dispersal occurs at 9-24 months of age.

Bobcat photograph by PD Ryan on Flickr.

My resource, which is the excellent book Wild Cats of the World by the equally excellent Mel and Fiona Sunquist, states that "Kittens are dependent on their mother until about seven months of age, after which they spend progressively more time away from her, although some mother-young associations may last a year or more".

You see what I mean by the elasticity of that moment? It varies from seven months to 12 months.

The authors go on to state that before bobcats become adult in terms of size and weight young bobcats leave their "natal ranges" (the home range of their mother) and wonder looking for a home of their own in "unoccupied habitat". They become part of a "transient or floating population" of bobcats.

And then the bobcat disperses by which the authors mean bobcats leave their mother's home and set up their own home permanently. This moment varies also with some young leaving as early as nine months of age while others might be two years of age before they disperse and become an independent bobcat living in their own home range.

And the way this takes place also varies with some young bobcats upping sticks suddenly and rapidly travelling many kilometres while others may take several months to do the same thing.

Sometimes, rarely, an individual might set up home in their mother's range if, for example, the mother has disappeared or has died.

Newly adult bobcats want their home range because it's a prerequisite for successful reproduction.

How far do bobcats travel in a day? Studies on radio-tagged bobcats indicate that the distance they travel in one day varies with male bobcats travelling farther than females and movement patterns vary by season and region, but estimates vary between as little as 2.6 km to 18.5 km per day. The longer distances are normally associated with the mating season.

How long is a bobcat's tail? The tale is about 14 cm long being white underneath and marked with dark bands above.

What breed is this stray neighbourhood cat?

"What breed is this stray neighbourhood cat?" asks a Reddit.com user and the answer is that this is a bobcat. This is not a breed of cat but a species of medium-sized wild cat ubiquitous in North America wandering around suburbia looking for a domestic cat to feed on! 😢

It looks like a 'purebred' bobcat (i.e., not a hybrid) who has wandered into the neighbourhood as they sometimes do as they often become habituated to suburbia which is not great for the cat as sometimes residents panic and grab their guns of which there is a copious number in the US.

What breed is this stray neighbourhood cat? It is not a breed of cat but an American bobcat wandering around American suburbia probably looking for a domestic cat to feed on. Image: Reddit.com (u/Gimme_More_Cats)

You'll see a lot of bobcats in American suburbia and the big problem is that in some places such as Florida bobcats acquire a taste for outside domestic cats. They attack, kill and eat them. Domestic cat owners find that their cat companions have simply disappeared, and the bobcat can return for more.

RELATED: Two dozen domestic cats attacked and eaten by bobcats at Flagler Beach?

You can end up with a mini slaughter of indoor/outdoor cats in one area. I guess small dogs might be vulnerable to bobcat predation as well.

The problem is human made as these settlements have been built on bobcat territory. They are simply occupying what is rightfully theirs and they bump into prey animals: domestic cats.

Sometimes you see escaped pet servals wandering around neighbourhoods. They, too, are vulnerable to being shot at because people can be scared, and they tend to exaggerate the dangers.

If they simply keep their cats inside and left the bobcat alone all would end well. You just have to leave them alone to share the place. It is their place anyway.

RELATED: Do bobcats make good pets? Do bobcats eat cats? Do bobcats live in UK? Do bobcats attack humans?

There are actually many news stories of bobcats interfering with human life sometimes with bad outcomes. For example, a contractor claims a bobcat attacked him on 18th floor of condominium in downtown Tampa. 

Emaciated bobcat with burnt paws rescued from Dixie Fire, California

AUBURN, Calif. (KTXL) – An emaciated adult male bobcat with burns to the bottoms of all four paws is now in the care of Gold Country Wildlife Rescue in Auburn, the organization reported Sunday. The bobcat arrived from Plumas County, where the Dixie Fire has burned. Caregivers are “cautiously optimistic” about the bobcat’s prognosis....

Emaciated bobcat with burnt feet rescued from Dixie Fire, California. Photo: Fox40 FB page.

I don't have more because it is still the case that some American news media websites do not allow Europeans to read their articles. They could easily resolve this problem by complying with European Union regulations but they would rather bar Europeans from their website than do a bit of work.

And what is surprising to me is that this is the only story about cat rescue that I have found on the Internet coming out of the huge California wildfires this year. They happened last year too and they seem to be a perennial occurrence and they also appear to be getting worse. Global warming?

However, the news media appears to be disinterested in reporting on animal welfare. I would like to see some heroic stories of domestic cats being rescued or saved from the fire by their owners. But nothing is available to me on the Internet. This story about the bobcat is unsurprising and I would expect many other wild animals to have suffered in the same way. Obviously, the cat was without food because their prey animals had been killed by the fire. And equally obviously this cat must've been walking through hot undergrowth and burnt ground which is why their paws were burnt.

There are no videos about this rescue either. I am very good at searching for stuff on the Internet and if something was there, I would find it, I feel. Perhaps the biggest problem for the wild cats of California affected by these wildfires is the loss of prey animals. They will feed on a lot of relatively small animals living in the undergrowth and they have probably perished. The bobcat feeds on small prey animals such as snakes, lizards, birds, rodents, rats, the white-footed mouse, the pocket mouse and so on. I foresee a lot of death in these species of small animals due to the devastating wildfires.

What wild cats live in Florida?

Two wild cat species live in Florida: the bobcat and the Florida panther (puma, cougar, mountain lion). At one time the Florida panther was believed to be distinct subspecies of the puma but no longer. Because of the low population size of the Florida panther - in the hundreds and as low as about 100 I recall at one time - pumas from the west of the country were introduced which I understand to be an acceptance by the conservationists that they have abandoned the notion of keeping the Florida panther purebred and are just trying to save the puma from becoming extinct in Florida. It is the last place in the east of the US where it exists. The rest were hunted to extinction long ago when they were considered pests. And now they are treasured but it is too late.

Florida panther killed on the roads that criss-cross the state. Tragic but not uncommon. PHOTOGRAPH BY CARLTON WARD, JR.

It is a species of cat which is under constant pressure from human activity such as new roads and new developments. I believe that commercial organisations find the presence of the puma in Florida a nuisance and want rid of the pesky animal. I even suggested a conspiracy to get rid of it at one time.

There is talk from time to time of jaguarundi being present in Florida. There may be some but they are likely to be escaped 'pets' as the experts (IUCN Red List) say there are none.

That's about it. Back in the day there would have been ocelots but no longer. Those days are long gone as the best we can do nowadays is see fossil records of ocelots in this sunny state.

Pet bobcats instinctively like to use human toilet to poop and pee

This is a story from Melissa, Texas, USA of a couple of pet bobcats adopted quite recently by Mick and Melissa. They have made a video of their experiences of living with the bobcats. Melisssa says that bobcats like to hide the smell of their feces and urine when living in the wild. They do this by using a pond or a stream. This is why they took to using the human toilet so naturally. 

Melissa play-fights with one of the bobcats. Watch those hands. A bobcat bite can break the
bones of the hands according to Melissa. Screenshot.

My research indicates that bobcats don't normally hide their feces in the wild. In fact they create a bobcat feces toilet! I visualise mounds of poo at an important place in their home range. They tend to mark territory at the boundaries of their home range using poop, pee and scraping the ground. This contradicts Melissa but I sure that she is correct in saying that the bobcats used the toilet naturally.

So what is going on? It seems that they want to hide the smell of their poop. Sometimes in the wild bobcats need to be invisible. Perhaps it might be a female with her cubs. Or a juvenile bobcat. My reading of the situation is that Melissa and Mick's bobcats are feeling a little anxious and don't feel confident enough to mark territory.

Pet bobcat instinctively pees and poops in human toilet the owner said. Screenshot.

They probably don't feel that it is their territory but the territory of their owners. Perhaps as they become more bold and older their toilet habits might change.

Melissa does not say if the bobcats have sprayed urine against the walls as is commonplace in captive medium-sized wild cat pets. The serval is another example.

There are many cases of serval owners giving up and abandoning their exotic pets to sanctuaries because it all becomes to much hassle.

Bobcats can live long lives at about 30 years in captivity. They are the longest lived wild cat species in captivity. If Melissa and Mick are around 40 years old they'll be looking after these gorgeous bobcats when they are approaching 70. Can they do it? Will they tire of it or will their circumstances change so that they can no longer care for the cats?

Melissa admits to getting scratched and even suffering from broken bones in her hands because the bite of these cats is very strong. Not many people are able to accept that. Some delcaw their exotic pet cats. I can't tell if these bobcats are declawed. I don't think they are and I sincerely hope not. It is a very cruel operation.

Bobcat peeing and pooping in a human toilet. Screenshot.

As you can see, I am against wild cats as pets because ultimately it works against conservation of these animals. So much better to let them live out their lives naturally in the wild and allow them the space and peace to do it.

What wild cats live in Georgia?

In my honest opinion, only one wild cat species lives in Georgia, officially, and that is the American bobcat. You may see the odd Puma but they are not meant to be there. That is what the experts say. Perhaps a Florida panther might wander into Georgia but I would doubt it. If someone knows better they can leave a comment, please. If you want to know what wild cats live in America, please click on this link, which tells you which wildcat species live in which country across the planet.