1 Adventure

Bobcats Like To Climb Trees and Stupid Deer Love Corn

I had a very rare and wonderful oppourtunity this weekend to get a chance to take some pictures of a wild Texas Bobcat up close and personal at a ranch in South Texas. Not only is it kinda odd to get this close but it was also odd because the big cat was perched in a mesquite tree for over 2 hours in the middle of the day. We had the toughest time figuring out what might have chased the cat up the tree and why it continued to sit there while we walked to the brush line to get a closer look. It definately knew we where there and either it was enjoying the Texas sunshine ready to pounce on some unlucky varmit or it's leg was stuck in the tree for some odd reason.

Either way it was quite a treat. Normally Bobcats are rather reclusive cats staying active mainly at night. It has been quite sometime since anyway had seen a bobcat at the ranch, not to say they weren't there, we just didn't know where to look. Often times when I have seen a cat before it has been in the headlights of some truck on a dirt road which usually scared it off before you could get a good look. In any case, I was usually a high power zoom lens to get the up close shots. Due to the level of dense brush it was difficult to get a clear shot, this was on of the best.

More info on the Texas Parks & Wildlife webite - Bobcat (Lynx rufus)

To add further fun to the weekend we ended up catching a young buck in a pig trap overnight. Poor thing was so scared it didn't know what to do. I thought this picture was a bit comical as your don't often see a deer in such a situation. Luckily for it, we were able to release it safely. Figuring how to get it out was another ordeal which required referencing the Unoffical Unwritten Ranchhand Guidebook to Strange Situations (a.k.a the grandfather and uncle Justin).