Did you hear a “meow”?!

Recently at the Wolf Conservation Center, we have begun utilizing trail cameras across our grounds. A trail camera is triggered to take photos or videos when it senses changes in heat and motion, typically when an animal passes in front of the camera. We placed these cameras in various locations on site where we detected animal sign (scat, tracks, etc.) in hopes of capturing footage of our local wildlife. Over the recent months, we’ve captured a wide variety of species on camera including eastern coyotes, white-tailed deer, ermines, red foxes, eastern cottontails, raccoons, and even bobcats!

In fact, this past month we have had abundant bobcat activity here at the WCC. Over the course of a few weeks, we have identified two distinct individuals on our cameras, a male and a female. Bobcats are typically solitary animals but will travel with other bobcats when they are breeding, or if they are a mother with kittens. We have observed our male bobcat scent-marking the area on camera, as well as vocalizing most likely to draw the female in.

Here you can see the male “scraping” a specific spot on the ground with his hind feet, and briefly urinating as well. Scrape spots serve as a territory marker by leaving behind a scent, which also helps to draw in local females looking to breed. Bobcats will re-visit their scrapes periodically to refresh them and leave even stronger olfactory cues such as urine or scat.