Table 3.
Winter diet of bobcats in the northern United States and southern Canada (1939–2005). These results are based on absolute frequency of occurrence
| Location | Sample | N | Cervid[Link] | Lagomorph[Link] | Tree squirrel[Link] | Other rodent[Link] | Bird | Other[Link] | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western | |||||||||
| MT | Scat, colon, stomach | 78 | 6.4 | 17.9 | 48.7 | 34.6 | 12.8 | 0.0 | This study |
| ID | Scat | 135 | 43.8[Link] | 1.5 | 2.2 | 88.1 | 3.7 | 0.0 | Koehler and Hornocker (1989) |
| OR | Scat | 499 | 35.0[Link] | 38.0 | 11.0 | 32.0 | 7.0 | 4.0 | Toweill and Anthony (1988) |
| WA (E) | Stomach | 324 | 7.0 | 26.0 | 11.0 | 48.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 | Knick, Sweeney, Alldredge, and Brittell (1984) |
| WA (W) | Stomach | 123 | 11.0 | 20.0 | 17.0 | 26.0 | 15.0 | 9.0 | Knick et al. (1984) |
| Average | 20.6 | 20.7 | 18.0 | 45.7 | 9.1 | 4.4 | |||
| Midwestern | |||||||||
| MN | Stomach | 50 | 35.0 | 44.1 | 0.9 | 4.3 | 1.6 | 15.4 | Rollings (1945) |
| WI | Stomach | 309 | 45.3 | 18.4 | 2.9 | Gilbert (2000)[Link] | |||
| Average | 40.2 | 31.3 | 2.3 | ||||||
| Eastern | |||||||||
| ME | Stomach, colon | 88 | 40.9 | 21.6 | 14.0 | 20.0 | 12.0 | 21.0 | Westfall (1956) |
| ME | GI tract | 230 | 12.4 | 50.6 | 5.0 | 12.4 | 12.9 | 8.8 | Litvaitis, Clark, et al. (1986) |
| ME | Scat | 346 | 29.4[Link] | 64.7 | 0.0 | 14.7 | 5.9 | 2.9 | Litvaitis and Harrison (1989) |
| NS | Stomach | 666 | 17.1 | 71.0 | 4.8 | 16.4 | 6.6 | 3.7 | Matlack and Evans (1992) |
| MA, VT, ME, NY | Stomach, colon | 208 | 32.2 | 60.1 | 11.5 | 12.1 | 5.3 | 18.8 | Pollack (1951) |
| MA | Scat | 250 | 28.0 | 52.0 | 11.2 | 16.0 | 3.6 | 10.4 | Pollack (1951) |
| NH | GI tract | 388 | 22.4 | 48.9 | 18.8 | 11.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Litvaitis et al. (1984) |
| PA | Stomach | 85 | 42.0 | 15.0 | 3.0 | 21.0 | 39.0 | 6.0 | McLean, McKay, and Lovallo (2005) |
| VT | Stomach | 140 | 32.0 | 31.0 | 13.0 | 45.0 | 16.0 | 28.0 | Hamilton and Hunter (1939) |
| Average | 28.5 | 46.1 | 9.0 | 18.8 | 11.3 | 11.1 | |||
Typically deer, but Toweill and Anthony (1988) includes 4% elk, Litvaitis and Harrison (1989) includes 5.9% moose, and Koehler and Hornocker (1989) includes 15.6% bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) and 1.5% unknown.
Snowshoe hare and Sylvilagus spp.
Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), American red squirrel, and northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus).
This grouping includes voles, mice, ground squirrels, and mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa), and the rare report of ground squirrel spp.; hibernating ground squirrels were not available to bobcats in our Montana study.
Other includes large rodents >2 kg, that is, beaver (Castor canadensis), woodchuck (Marmota monax), and marmots (Marmota spp.). Bobcats also consumed raccoons (Procyon lotor), porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum), skunks (Spilogale and Mephitis spp.), and opossum (Didelphis virginiana), lynx, bobcat, mink (Neovison vison), fox (Vulpes vulpes), domestic cat (Felis catus), and otter (Lontra canadensis). Bobcats also consumed fish, vegetation, and berries.
Gilbert (2000) uses different prey categories and presents results in proportion biomass. We present values for deer, hare, and birds by calculating stomachs with that item present divided by total sample size. Gilbert lumps “medium” and “small” mammals, so we could not separate squirrels from other rodents.