Wildlife Wednesday: Bobcat Strut
Wildlife Wednesday: Bobcat Strut
They got cat class, and they got cat style.
Local resident Leslie Park sent us this lovely video of a slinky bobcat having a drink of water, the magical lights of the Marine base twinkling in the distance.
These sturdy cats are pretty common in Twentynine Palms neighborhoods, especially those close to the park boundary. They eat the bunnies and jackrabbits that nibble our landscaping and the k-rats, packrats, and pocket mice that live in our houses and yards and relish our yummy vehicle wiring.
The National Park Service has been studying bobcats in the Santa Monica Mountains since the 1996 and found that male bobcats patrol three square miles of territory, which makes it important to preserve corridors and buffer zones for these beautiful beasts. They mostly move around at night or at twilight and dawn, but not always!
Thanks to Morongo Basin residents who took up the cause, the Bobcat Protection Act of 2013 (State Assembly Bill 1213) prohibits bobcats from being trapped around Joshua Tree National Park. In 2019 AB 1254 was signed into law, virtually ending bobcat hunting and trapping for trophies and for fur.
We often see bobcats on our security cameras and have learned a few things. They eat jackrabbits (we’ll spare you that video), they stretch like house cats, and they really don’t like getting their feet wet.
If the subtitle doesn’t mean anything to you, enjoy this video by the rockabilly band Stray Cats—it’s so Eighties!
Thank you for sharing your wildlife photos and videos; we’ll include them in a feature soon. Always looking for more Twentynine Palms wildlife. Email your files to deserttrumpet29@gmail.com
Desert Trumpet writer Kat Talley-Jones is a member of the Public Arts Advisory Committee, which is a part of the City of Twentynine Palms.
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