Canku Ota

(Many Paths)

An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America

July 12, 2003 - Issue 91

How the Bobcat Caught the Gobbler

From Myths of the Cherokee, James Mooney, 1900

So the Bobcat let him up and went with him to where the Turkeys were.

When they came near the place the Rabbit said to the Bobcat, "Now, you must do just as I say. Lie down as if you were dead and don't move, even if I kick you, but when I give, the word jump up and catch the large stone there."

The Bobcat agreed and stretched out as if dead, while the Rabbit gathered some rotten wood and crumbled it over his eyes and nose to make them look flyblown, so that the Turkeys would think he had been dead some time.

Then the Rabbit went over to the Turkeys and said, in a sociable way, "Here, I've found our old enemy, the Bobcat, lying dead in the trail. Let's have a dance over him."

The Turkeys were very doubtful, but finally went with him to where the Bobcat was lying in the road as if dead.

Now, the Rabbit had a good voice and was a great dance leader, so he said, "I'll lead the song and you dance around him." The Turkeys thought that fine, so the Rabbit took a stick to beat time and began to sing: "Gälägi'na hasuyak', Gälägi'na hasuyak' (pick out the Gobbler, pick out the Gobbler)."

"Why do you say that?" said the old Turkey. "O, that's all right," said the Rabbit, "that's just the way he does, and we sing about it."

He started the song again and the Turkeys began to dance around the Bobcat. When they had gone around several times the Rabbit said, "Now go up and hit him, as we do in the war dance."

So the Turkeys, thinking the Bobcat surely dead, crowded in close around him and the old gobbler kicked him. Then the Rabbit drummed hard and sang his loudest, "Gälägi'na hasuyak', Gälägi'na hasuyak' (pick out the Gobbler, pick out the Gobbler)." and the Bobcat jumped up and caught the Gobbler.

Print and Color Your Own Bobcat Picture
Bobcat

Bobcat (Lynx rufus)

The bobcat, like all lynx, has a great liking for hare and rabbit, which form a major part of the diet. However, unlike the Canadian lynx, which almost exclusively hunts the snowshoe hare, the bobcat will commonly switch prey species when its preferred source of food is unavailable. Males will hunt larger prey such as deer in the winter months when other prey is scarce. Bobcats also prey on other small mammals, such as squirrels and chipmunk, rodents and birds. Generally they hunt both by night and day, although there is evidence to suggest that most hunting takes place at dawn and dusk, corresponding to peak periods of activity of the hare and rabbit, their main prey species. Bobcat tend to be more diurnal during the winter months.

In behaviour, the bobcat is less secretive than its Canadian relative and is found in a broad range of habitats from the Canadian/USA border down through to Mexico. Bobcats are found in coniferous and mixed forest to the north, swamp areas in and around Florida, and desert and scrubland in the south-western states of the US. They are however absent from the highly cultivated areas of the northern mid-states. Despite its smaller size, the bobcat is also thought to be more aggressive than the lynx and in areas where their ranges meet, such as on the Cape Breton Island of Nova Scotia, the Bobcat has displaced the lynx from much of the island.

The bobcat is crepuscular, and spends its days in a thicket, cave, or rocky crevice. It is most active three hours before sunset to midnight and one hour before sunset to three hours after. It is very territorial, like most big cats; selecting its prey by several factors including food source, living quarters for protection from the elements, and dense cover. Males have larger territories than females. The male bobcat's territory may overlap several female territories, and possibly even a neighboring male bobcat's, but the female bobcats rarely ever overlap territories, which can be from 2-40 square miles. The bobcat marks its territory in a similar fashion to other big cats; feces, gland secretions, urine, and scrapes are used for markers to keep other bobcats away. During the winter, the boundaries are weakened as food becomes scarce.

Females become sexually mature by their first birthday, but males do not reach maturity until about a year after the females. Mating season is in February or March. Following a gestation period of 60-70 days, 2-4 cubs are born blind, helpless, yet fully furred, weighing under 1 lb. They are born in hollow logs, rock shelters (caves), under the roots of a fallen tree, or in the thickets. They will nurse for about two months and then are weaned onto meat. At around 3-5 months they cubs will join their mother on hunts, learning tactics for hunting and making the fatal bite. During this hunt, which is usually at night, the cubs follow the mother's white-tipped tail. From 7-12 months the cubs will mature enough to become independent and will travel alone.

Although hunting is regulated in many US states the bobcat is relentlessly hunted throughout much of its range. However populations of the bobcat are high and although less common in Mexico, in general the bobcat is not threatened.

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