Bobcats in pa

[dk99358]

There's a thread (with pics) running right now on another forum about a successful bobcat hunt in the ANF.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthr...NG#Post7381330

Dale

[chrmm22sr]

We seen one in Bucks county near Peace Valley park walking up a dirt service road near the power lines in Chalfont

[chris3097]

A few years ago one was hit by a car a few miles from where I work. It would of been in Armstrong county, but just a few miles from the border with Westmoreland county. A guy I work with got in touch with the game commission and got it mounted as a full body mount.

[Breadman03]

I heard that they were somewhat quietly introduced into the pocono area to help with the deer population. I thought I saw one, but it turned out to be a brown colored fat fox.

I spotted one on 903 between 534 and Split Rock.

[spentshells2]

Almost hit one last summer on my way back from lake wallenpaupack on rt 402 near pecks pond.

[skwirl]

I live in Tioga county, and see them on a regular basis. As a matter of fact I was fortunate enough to harvest 1on Jan 28th this year. It was a 32 # female

[Edg]

Saw one near Coalport deer hunting 3 years ago. Stepped over a large downed tre eand it was right there by my foot, scared the shit out of both of us. It hissed and ran. I would guess it to be about 25lbs, and lighter colored then I thought.

[jtwalker]

Saw prints in the snow 2 years ago in Michaux State Forest (Adams/Cumberland County) that I believe were from a bobcat.

[Automan21k]

I haven't seen a bobcat around me (West Hanover) in about a year. had a sighting on a game camera in Dec. 2011.

when asking if wild animal X can be dangerous, I advise you to try to pick up an angry feral cat. Take that experience and plug it into this equation.
(x/y)*z=Q

x = weight of the animal in question (bobcats can weigh as much as 40lbs)
y = weight of the feral cat (average wild cat - 6lbs)
z = the injuries you had from the cat
Q= how bad you will feel after the encounter (this number is a MINIMUM)

[eyecanshoot]

Bobcats can be found pretty much anywhere in Pa. They are more active at night unless they have young. Then they will be more active during the day so they can protect their young from other nocturnal predators at night.

The last one I saw was on the Switchback Gravity Railroad outside Jim Thorpe.

I was walking my lab and two dirtbikes were coming the opposite direction so we got off the trail to let them pass. We made it about 50' and their was a fresh dead rat laying in the trail. I stopped to look around to see if I could spot what dropped it. I looked up the hill and saw a bobcat laying down poking its head out from behind a boulder waiting for me to leave so it could recover its lunch. I got over 2 minutes of video of it waiting for me to leave.

We also have Canadian Lynx in western PA.

So yeah it is rare to see a bobcat but they are actually very common throughout the state. To be honest I have had way more first hand sightings and interaction with wild mtn lions in Pa than I will probably ever have with bobcats. I have been studying PA wildlife as a main hobby for almost 30 years now. My main focus has been on predator/prey relationships.

Humans do occassionally get preyed upon by mtn lions in PA and other states but these cases usually get filed as missing persons. If remains are recovered (usually just bones) the cause of death will be undetermined and any animal signs like teeth marks get attributed to scavengers like coyotes.