CSG Species Accounts: Bobcat (Lynx rufus)

Habitat and Distribution
The majority of the world’s bobcats are found in the United States, where they range through a wide variety of habitats, including boreal coniferous and mixed forests in the north, bottomland hardwood forest and coastal swamp in the south-east, and desert and scrubland in the south-west (Figure 13). In the west, they have been trapped at elevations up to 2,575 m (Govt. of US 1983a). Only large, intensively cultivated areas appear to be unsuitable habitat. Areas with dense understory vegetation and high prey density are most intensively selected by bobcats (Rolley 1987). In Mexico, bobcats are found in dry scrubland and forests of pine and oak, principally in the mountainous northern and central parts of the country, and not in the tropical south (Woloszyn and Woloszyn 1982, González and Leal 1984).
Southern Canada represents the northern limit of bobcat range. Bobcat feet are smaller than those of the lynx and lack the large furry pads (Banfield 1974). Parker et al. (1983) found that the larger surface area of lynx paws supports twice the weight that of the bobcat can in the snow: this, combined with the bobcat’s shorter legs, makes travel in deep snow difficult, and is thus a significant limiting factor in the species’ northern distribution. Marston (1942) and McCord (1974) found that snow depths of over 15 cm restrict bobcat movements. In areas where the two cats met, such as Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island, the more aggressive bobcat has displaced the lynx (Parker et al. 1983). A northward expansion of the bobcat’s range has taken place over the past century, along with a corresponding northward retreat of the southern boundary of the lynx’s range, in association with the clearing for agriculture of mature conifer forests in the region (Rollings 1945, Banfield 1974, Govt. of US 1983b).