Bobcats are one of those predators whose population ebbs and flows following the cycle of its prey. With the rabbit and grouse populations in NY on the rise, so too, are bobcat numbers. Bobcats are one of the most stealthy predators in the northeast. Coyotes can’t hold a candle to the bobcat’s ability to melt into the forest and literally disappear. And it is—or was—a rare thing to see a bobcat. Now with more on the prowl feasting on grouse and rabbit that purr you hear is not your heart beating faster knowing the grouse population is on an up tick, but of a 20-something-pound feline drawing a bead on old ruff.
