Animals

Shoulder height: 19-22" (45-58 cm); weight: 12-26 pounds (4-15 kgs). Often confused with lynx, but with these differences: the bobcat has a longer tail with a black bar on the upper side fringed with white hairs; it also has shorter and more slender legs with small, less thickly furred paws and ear tufts less visible. Usual color is a shade of buff or brown spotted with dark brown and black. Buff bobcats are common in desert country; those from forests are darker. Females have 4 nipples.
Geograghical range:
Southern Canada, the entire United States (except the midwestern corn belt) and southward into Mexico. Prefers brushy woodlands but occurs sparingly from high mountains to desert. Common in California chaparral communities.
Diet varied but strictly carnivorous: rabbits, squirrels, mice, gophers, wood rats, chipmunks, as well as the eggs of ground-nesting birds and occasionally a lamb or young deer.