National Park Service

Have you ever stepped outside into your neighborhood and caught a glimpse of a very large housecat with a short, stubby tail? Don’t mistake that cat as someone’s pet; chances are, that cat is a bobcat. Surprised? Don’t be. They can be found in a wide range of habitats from the grassland valleys to the chaparral hills, and sometimes, if you’re lucky, you can even spot them in your own backyard!

You are living in an area where urban development and natural habitat meet. There are many terms for this type of landscape – the urban-wildland interface, the urban edge. In this type of setting, it allows us to be closer to nature and nature to be closer to us. Drive a short distance and you can be hiking or biking in wide open spaces. Unfortunately, open space is continually being lost to urban development. Natural habitat is becoming smaller, more fragmented, and more isolated. Within this framework, wildlife must adapt and survive or be forced out.

National Park Service

Bobcats generally occupy a defined area of habitat, termed a home range, that they'll use for hunting their main food – rabbits and rodents. Often, isolated pieces or fragments of habitat are too small to support a typical home range for an adult bobcat. Some bobcats have adapted by utilizing several habitat fragments within their home range, crossing roads and traveling through neighborhoods in order to get from one habitat fragment to the next.

National Park Service

In 1996, the National Park Service began studying bobcats to understand how they and other carnivores utilize and adapt (or fail to adapt) to the urban edge.  Biologists fitted bobcats with radio-telemetry collars so that their movements could be tracked.  How did they adapt to urban areas?  Follow seven bobcats and see how they adapted to living on the urban edge.