Bobcats in Western Iowa

If you have read much of my blog you know I love to write about the outdoors and especially deer hunting in Iowa. In Iowa we have two animals that are rare to sight. The first is the bobcat and the second is the mountain lion. Both exist here in Iowa. Bobcats are more common than the mountain lion but from time to time a mountain lion is hit by a car leaving proof they are here.

Bobcats are just about as hard as mountain lions to spot and over the last 10 years or so I have been able to see 5 of them. Deer hunters often use trail cameras to take digital photos of deer. The camera is a motion sensing camera that is attached to a tree along a deer trail. When an animal moves in front of the camera it snaps a photo of the animal. I was surprised this week when I checked one of my cameras to find a bobcat on one of the photos. Having witnessed them myself I knew they were around but to have a photo to actually show is a great reward for the many hours I spend servicing my cameras.

Take a look at the photo for yourself. This photo was taken near Mondamin Iowa in the Loess Hills. The top photo is at 100% cropped while the bottom photo was resized to fit on the screen.