Bobcat
Missouri’s statewide wild cat often appears first as a nearly straight track line through mud, then as long hind legs, cheek ruffs, and a short tail slipping between brush and clearing.
Artwork inspired by Jerry Bywaters
Bobcats are yellowish- to reddish-brown cats marked with dark streaks and spots, pointed ears with pale rear patches, long hind legs, and a three-to-eight-inch bobbed tail. Missouri animals use dense second-growth cover broken by glades, rocky openings, farms, and even connected habitat near development.
A track is round, about two inches long, with four toes and usually no claw marks; the hind foot may register into the front print, creating a narrow trail. Use measurements and a sequence of sign before turning a house cat, dog track, or distant feline silhouette into a Bobcat.
- Missouri status
- Stable and found statewide
- Track
- About two inches, four toes, and usually no claw marks
- Body check
- Long hind legs, cheek ruffs, and a short broad tail
Quick guide
- Measure the track line
- Record print width, toes, claw marks, stride, and direct-register pattern
- Confirm scale in a sighting
- Compare the cat with vegetation, fence posts, and its own tail length
Confirm a Missouri Bobcat from track line to bobbed tail
- Begin with a sequence of tracks
- Look along Missouri mud, snow, or sand for round four-toed prints about two inches long.
- Check the feline print
- Compare the broad heel pad and usually absent claw marks with a domestic dog’s more oval, claw-marked track.
- Read the living silhouette
- Look for a muscular cat taller and longer-legged than most house cats, with cheek ruffs, pointed ears, and a short broad tail.
- Keep the corridor wild
- Watch from a fixed position, secure poultry and pet food, and never bait or pursue a Bobcat.
Good to know
A Bobcat can live near a Missouri neighborhood while remaining almost invisible. Look for connected brush, prey, and a narrow track line rather than assuming proximity to houses makes the animal a domestic cat.
Notice these
- Bobbed tail
- Spotted tawny coat
- Cheek ruff
- Long hind legs