Bobcat encounter

A few weeks ago while photographing birds in Central California’s scenic oak woodlands, my peripheral vision picked up movement closer to the parking lot. I quickly swung the camera around, thinking the fuzzy shape might be a fox, but to my astonishment saw the characteristic cat shape and tail of a bobcat. This was an animal I had never seen before, and was not expecting to obtain any good photos before it disappeared.

I quickly caught up to it as it began navigating its way down a boulder-strewn hillside. At this point I was able to photograph a few look back poses, and I started to plan where to position myself next. I had a rough idea of where the cat might be going, and was able to quickly walk ahead on an adjacent trail. As expected, the bobcat began walking through a grassy meadow after making its way down the boulders. It paused a few times, seemingly scanning for prey, and completely tolerant of my presence. It eventually sat down for a few minutes, then without warning ran off and could not be relocated.

In total I had 8 minutes with this individual, and I’m really pleased with the range of poses and photos I was able to capture in such a short length of time.

Adult Bobcat resting in grasses

Adult Bobcat resting in grasses (click to enlarge)

Bobcat stalking on rocks

Bobcat stalking on rocks (click to enlarge)

Bobcat scanning meadow

Bobcat scanning meadow (click to enlarge)

Bobcat portrait

Bobcat Portrait (click to enlarge)

Bobcat on rocks

Bobcat on rocks (click to enlarge)

Bobcat resting in grasses

Bobcat resting in grasses (click to enlarge)

One comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *