Bobcat vs squirrels

[Friends call me Pac]

I was bow hunting in my tree stand yesterday & enjoying the day. As I sat there I noticed two squirrels messing around in a oak tree about 30 yards away. I watched them for about an hour & was really surprised that they stayed in that tree for so long. All of a sudden I heard a slight racket in the leaves in the bushes at the base of the tree. A bobcat sprang out of hiding & climbed about 20 feet up that oak tree to get him a squirrel supper. It might have taken him 2 seconds to go up 20 feet & that would be a conservative guess. Luckily for the squirrels it only took them 1 1/5 seconds to climb an extra 20 feet.

Bobcat was hugging the tree as he looked up at the new perch for the squirrels & decided he was out of luck. He came back down & immediately began stalking something else.

I have seen this particular bobcat 6 times now and have seen him stalk the squirrels 4 of those times. This was the first time I had seen him climb a tree after them. I thought it was pretty cool & I find myself cheering for the bobcat every time I see him. About 10 years ago I actually watched a bobcat catch a squirrel on the ground. That was awesome but watching this one go up that tree after the squirrels was a new experience.

Thought it was kind of a neat experience & wanted to share.

[LuckyDog]

Thank you.

[southpaw]

Several years ago I had a bobcat walk by me about 20 yards or so away. About 20 minutes later she came back with a squirrel in her mouth. An hour or so after that I saw a couple kittens (I'm guessing hers) about 30-40 yards out playing. Had a huge tom about 10-15 yards behind me this past spring while turkey hunting. I hadn't made any calls yet but watched him climb up on a log about 20-30 yards behind me. I looked back in front of me for a few seconds and looked back and he did a pretty good casper impression. Not sure where he went but he was big. Between archery and spring gobbler they are my favorite times. Seems like I more and different critters.

Thanks for reminding me about these.

Jerry Jr.

[user55645]

Haven't seen either of them in a while, but we've seen a bobcat, in our yard, chasing a buck around a tree stump.
Went on for a good minute or 2 before they were both scared off by a passing truck.

One of those times you can't get the camera out fast enough.

[Bo1]

A few years back I was sitting in my deer stand on an old fire lane watching a small cutover. Around 7:30 in the morning, a coon with 3 little ones were walking a straight line from the thicker brush to the wooded area about 75 yards away. The only reason I spotted them in the first place was because they jumped up on a fairly large log that had been left from the loggers, and walked the length of it before disappearing into the brush again. I would see them occasionally through open spots in the thick cover until they were gone. About 20 minutes after they had passed, I noticed movement by the log, and when I looked through the scope, it was a large tom bobcat on the log. It studied the log for a few minutes, walked to the end of it, jumped to the ground, and crouched down in the brush. About an hour later, I caught a glimpse of the coons heading back towards the thicket. This was going to get VERY interesting. The coons got to the log, jumped onto it, and walked all the way down it to the end where the bobcat was laying in wait. I wish it would have been closer, or maybe even a little more open, but when the last coon hit the ground, you would have thought world war 3 had started. The craziest, most awful screams, hair from the coons, and the bobcat was flying into the air. I would see animals flying into the air, and to be honest, I was not sure who was gonna win the fight, and after about 15 to 20 seconds, total silence. I stayed in my stand for a couple of more hours, and did kill a 6 point not 30 yards from where all of this transpired. When I climbed down, I immediately went to the end of the log, and found hair everywhere, but no blood. I'm still not sure who won the fight, and to this day this is one of my fondest memories of observing nature while deer hunting.

[rockrat]

Was driving down a section line road in Oklahoma, long time ago. Kind of wooded in spots and slowed to a spot where a tree was overhanging the road, so could stop and have lunch in the shade. There was some brush at the base of the tree and when I rolled down the window and started eating lunch, I looked over and there was a bobcat looking back at me. Maybe about 6 feet away. I kept on eating and talking to the bobcat. Just sat there, blinking its eyes now and then. Finally after we finished and were getting ready to go, I started the truck and the bobcat turned and slowly walked away.

[wch]

I was in my tree stand during archery season here in PA when I heard what I thought were dogs coming up the hill directly toward my position; as I waited to see what the noises were about I spotted two young raccoons playing with a stick- one would take it from the other and run a few feet, then the other would jump on the first coon and they'd roll around in a ball like two puppies...
They'd separate and then of course it started all over again, coons and sticks and snarls and high spirits: I tell you, I dern near fell out of the tree what with trying very hard to hold on to my bow, the tree, and keep from laughing out loud.

[MtGun44]

I have always told folks that hunting was NOT the same as killing, and if you
didn't enjoy just sitting still and quiet in the woods, you wouldn't like hunting
because that is the only thing guaranteed to happen. Have had a big red squirrel
bouncing along a branch in the tree I was sitting in nearly have a heart attack
when he finally realized that that was a PERSON, and 3 ft away IN A TREE! Run
for it ! Ha ha.

Had a lynx stare at me from about 25 ft for 5 minute one cold morning
in Wyoming, stared back with binocs, got a really good look at his face.
Fish and Game says that there are no lynx in Wyoming. He must have
not gotten the memo.

You see lots of neat stuff sitting in the woods still and quiet. :grin:

Bill

[Thin Man]

Several years ago the wife and I were driving on US 441 in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, at night with a heavy fog covering everything. This was slow traveling on the curvy road. The car behind us was in a hurry and was hugging our back bumper. His headlights, through the fog, put a brighter than normal glare on us. As soon as I found a slight pull-off I eased over and stopped to allow this vehicle to pass us. He went around and I was ready to go back onto the road when I caught a glimpse of movement in front of us. We remained stopped and saw a sow pig with 3 or 4 piglets were standing a few yards straight in front of us. They were not scared a bit by our lights or the sound of the engine. In a minute or so they slowly rambled back into the forest. If the sow hadn't moved we never would have seen them.

Thin Man

[762 shooter]

I was bow hunting in tree stand here in South Carolina on an island near the Intracoastal Waterway.

I heard something walking in on my path and a medium size black bear comes into view. He/she follows my trail slowly up toward the base of my tree. About ten feet away that sucker freezes like good dog on point. If you had reversed a video it could not have been more perfect backing up.

Same island I watched a bobcat mother and two kits amble by at about 20 yards.

Never did get a deer off that island.

762

[wch]

Another time: I was, again, archery hunting here in PA (in full camo including a face mask) and sitting in a tree stand on the edge of Tussey Mountain with a clear view of the Northern half of the sky; I heard crows screeching further East of where I sat and saw them harassing a redtail hawk.
The male hawk flew along the periphery of the trees and happened to alight on a branch about 6 feet from my position it stayed there for some minutes while the crows milled about and then seemed to recognize that the "thing" in front of it (me) was not part of the natural flora of the forest!
The hawk immediately launched and continued his sorely oppressed journey.

[Blackwater]

Thanks for all the great stories. And it IS what makes hunting so interesting at times. I would REALLY have liked to have seen that bobcat/coon fight! I didn't see it, but a buddy who's been a woodsman all his life not long ago saw a rather large bobcat cross a road by a field he was watching. He couldn't get his rifle in time, and it made its way into the soy beans, that were over 3' tall. Just a couple of minutes later, he watched as a coyote walked the exact same path behind the bobcat, obviously stalking it. It got a little ways into the soy beans when the whole field seemed to erupt in the awfulest racket imaginable! Leaves and dirt were flying 5' or more in the air, and the soy beans were shaking in about a 10-15' circle! They vied with each other for a few minutes, which probably were only 30 seconds or maybe less, and the coyote flew back across the road like he had rockets in his heels, never to be seen again! In just a little while, the big bobcat walked back out to the road, licked itself a little, arched its neck a bit, seemingly in prideful victory, and then arose purposefully, and strutted off, chest full forward, and my buddy didn't have the heart to shoot. He just smiled, and quietly said, "Thanks for the show."

Cats can and do, do a lot of things that cats aren't supposed to do. All woodland critters do, really. They have moods just like we do, and sometimes just aren't intimidated by things we usually think ought to intimidate them. Hungry animals, expecially, can do seemingly unthinkable things at times. If there's anything I've learned from all my roaming on the woods and on the waters, it's that you can never say "they all do that." I've come to NEVER take for granted that any wildlife will act "like they're supposed to" because I've seen to darn much to believe that any more, but all the "animal lovers" seem to think that way. If they've watched squirrels in the parks in the city, they "know all about them!" HAR! Would that it could be so! I've seen an angry squirrel attack a very tough house cat before! Don't know if it was protecting its progeny or if it was just tired of the harassment, but it turned and attacked the cat, and the cat cowed down, possibly from things taking a surprising turn it just wasn't sure how to deal with. Canines of all sorts will usually cow and run if you run at them, as will most wildlife, but .... you cannot count on it. It's amazing what you can see if you spend much time in the woods. Great stories! Keep 'em coming so we can all enjoy them!

[onceabull]

Speaking of domestic cats Vs,squirrels, One,now departed,of our male cats,was tough enough to convince any cat other than his mother to leave him the xxxx alone. So,naturally the small tree squirrels hearabouts couldn't be anything but prey..Went up the big oak in the front yard about 20 feet where Boss squirrel was waiting on a limb, Boss bites cat square on the nose,Cat is airborne,squalling all the way to the ground,Lit upright still squalling for Mother,Mary,or the Pope..END OF all squirrel hunting here, aside from roadkill... Onceabull

[LuckyDog]

Growing up on the farm in PA...
We had a black and tan coon dog that loved too tree anything that would climb one. All the barn cats knew to get up a tree when they saw or heard him.

One day, the little one got caught out in the open. Ring, the dog, ran up to him barking, but stopped nose to nose. He was a bit confused by the little fur ball hissing at him but not running away. The fur ball then launched onto Ring's face with the claws just a flailing away.

Ring collapses on the ground bawling an awful sound. I went over and picked up the cat... and Ring! That kitten had quite a hold on him.

Well ole Ring still loved to tree things to his dying days, but if that cat was walking out and about.... Ring just let him go 'bout his business. Usually gave him a wide berth too.

[MaryB]

I always used a ground stand when deer hunting. Where I sat looked over a shallow creek bed that was about 20 feet below surrounding terrain and a deer highway. This time it was a human and deer meeting. We had sent the walkers into town in the park to walk back out onto our deer lease and see if they could kick an deer out. As I was watching Bob work along below me I noticed a doe headed his way and hollered at him... 30 seconds later the doe see him and charges hard! Footprints up his coat and she headed right back into the park! I was laughing so hard I fell off my 5 gallon bucket that had a boat seat bolted on top. Bob never has lived that down! Someone will holler "Bob look out for that doe" when we are doing a drive and it never fails to make him jump.

[oldfart1956]

Marys story made me remember...some time back while hunting with the Yankees in what is locally known as The Cedars. They come down every year with a bunch of beagles and run the local rabbits for several days. I join them when I can but working nightshift limits my "awake" time. Anyways, the fellers got the dogs on a rabbit and as the runs can be a bit longish at times I elected to flop down on a trail and just rest my eyes a bit till they returned. One of the fellers bumped a group of deer and the next thing deer was flyin' everywhar. After all the ruckus subsided one of the fellers hollered "I think one of them was a buck!" I answered him..."Nope..all does...I had a much better view of them than you did!" Three of the deer lept right o'er me as I lay there and a forth stopped to look at me close enough to touch. I went home, got clean shorts and finished the day with them. Audie..the Oldfart..

[Blackwater]

This is a little twist with different actors, but these stories reminded me of the time one of our neighbors old milk cows got out. Mom was tough, but she was scared of cows, and that old milk cow came to our back yard, and was munching her way through it. Mom was an avid gardener and always had the prettiest flowers, and she loved them like children, nearly. Well, the old cow commenced to eating on one of her "children," and she instantly flew into a rage, went in the house, got my old 16 ga. double, loaded it with bird shot, and went outside to change that old milk cow's mind about her choice of meals. She was never a shooter, but had gotten me to show her how to load and shoot my old shotgun. When she walked outside, armed to the teeth, she said something to the old milk cow, and it just stopped munching and looked at her with that look that only a dumb cow can give you. Then it went back to bend down to eat some more of her flowers, and she lifted the gun, aimed straight at her butt, and pulled the trigger! Mom didn't understand ballistics, and thought that the bird shot would just "sting" it, but she'd gotten too close, and at the shot, the lazy old milk cow buckled at the knees, and seemed about to fall. Luckily, Mom hadn't gotten close enough to kill the old cow, but she sure did sting it, and GOOD! It arose from its knees, left, and NEVER came back to so inhospitable a place as Mom's flowers again, even if she broke out of the pen they kept her in.

When I got home from school, she was still shaken from it, and told me how she thought she'd killed Old Man Minnick's cow! I laughed, which she didn't appreciate very much, but then sat down and explained as concisely as I could, how the old cow's leather skin had probably contained all the shot from about a 40-50 yd. shot, and would almost surely be OK, but would be unlikely to ever come around and munch on her beautiful flowers again. Sure enough, that's how it worked out, too. But it upset Mom so much thinking she'd killed the old milk cow that it was several years before she developed a sense of humor about it, but she never forgot what I taught her. At least she was glad to know that bird shot up close is generally just as effective as buckshot.

[JSnover]

Cats are amazing, I don't know why dogs ever mess with them. Walking down a dirt road towards my neighbors house years ago, a cat came flying out the driveway with a big dog hot on his heels, gaining on him. The cat spun 360 degrees and laid the dogs face open at 180, didn't even appear to slow down. The dog decided to end pursuit...

[Boaz]

Anytime you get in the shenery , woods , whatever just find a place and sit still . There is a whole nother world in play if you just be quiet and listen . Nature is amazing thing to see . Something will happen , might be small but never the less interesting .

[MaryB]

I have had rabbits play at my feet when deer hunting. Sat totally still until they got used to me. Finally and slowly reached down and was able to pet ones ears.

[dubber123]

I have picked up 2 wild baby bunnies before. The first was sitting too close to the road, and made the worst squealing noise when I gathered it up :) The second I almost stepped on, and had so many fleas I couldn't deposit that one in the woods quickly enough.