Let’s back up a minute and talk about exactly
how one goes about trapping a bobcat. It’s actually quite
a challenging and time-consuming endeavor. We employ
two different strategies, cage traps and footholds, but have
only used cage traps the last 2 years. Our cage traps have
two compartments. The rear compartment holds a small,
Bantam rooster whose job is to entice a bobcat to enter
the outer cage. The rooster is fed and watered daily and
kept safe from the bobcat in its compartment. The trap is
placed in a likely area, the bottom of the trap is covered in
dirt, vegetation is placed around the trap to camouflage it,
and then the door is opened and the trap is set. Cage traps
are checked daily, but it may be weeks before a bobcat
ventures into the trap, if at all.
Occasionally, we employ a second trapping
technique, the foothold trap, adjacent to or near a cage
trap. Bobcats are often attracted to the crowing of the
rooster but simply refuse to walk into the trap. The
footholds are custom-designed for bobcats with a
number of special modifications that allow them to work
effectively but minimize strain and potential injury to the
bobcat. These special traps are considered humane, rarely
inflict injury, and are approved for use on endangered
species.
Deploying footholds to capture bobcats is an art in
itself and requires considerable experience to do so. The
Hank and Laurel Greer
bobcat must be enticed to step directly on a buried pan
that is roughly two square inches in size to set off the trap.
To put it in perspective, the home range size of a typical
bobcat is almost 10 billion square inches. Talk about a
challenge. One of my favorite and most effective trapping
setups is called the “dirt hole.” The first step is to locate a
dirt mound or fallen log in an area frequently traveled by
bobcats. The next step is to dig a hole into the ground at
the base of the log or mound to simulate a rodent burrow.
The foothold is buried with the pan situated so that a
bobcat will step on the pan with its right front foot as it
looks at or sniffs the hole. To further increase the chances
of a bobcat stepping on the pan, small sticks and leaves
are placed around the hole leaving an inconspicuous bare
spot directly above the pan. This encourages the bobcat
to step in the bare spot in their desire to minimize noise as
they approach the hole. Bobcats are extremely cautious
animals, are very aware of their surroundings, and can be
extremely difficult to capture. I consider bobcat trapping
a great challenge, and it forces me to “think like a bobcat”
each and every time I set a trap. When it all works out
perfectly, and a bobcat is captured, it is a very rewarding
experience.
Over the last 14 years, we have captured and
monitored more than 60 bobcats on Kiawah Island. Each
of them has been unique in its own way, but some truly
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