Growing up in the swamps and foothills of South Carolina with three sisters, a brother and two very understanding parents that loved animals, we adopted just about everything imaginable! This included deer, foxes, squirrels, flying squirrels, raccoons, opossums, skunks, snakes, lizards and, one bobcat! Most of the animals were either herbivores or omnivores (they would eat either plants or animals), except for the bobcat. Every one always wondered what the bobcat ate.
The bobcat’s name was Troubles because it constantly caused troubles, but it was basically a large cat. By large, it weighed about thirty-five pounds, that is considerably bigger than most house cats. But a bobcat is a cat, just a large one, and it eats what cats eat, just more of it and larger specimens.
The diet of a bobcat consists primarily of rodents and birds. Troubles was quite adapt at catching mice and rats around the yard and in the woods. She would also hide and pounce on squirrels, and even a big fox squirrel was no trouble for Troubles. She also developed a fondness for rabbits, which was fine as long as they were wild rabbits. When she sat around the rabbit coops the bunnies all hid in terror!
Birds were a bit of a problem. There were a surplus of sparrows and blackbirds and quail as well as doves were common in the nearby meadows. Unfortunately Troubles felt her diet was best supplemented by catching Mom’s free range Chickens and ducks, which the normal cats left alone. Troubles did actually get in trouble when she attempted to catch Tom, a large, male turkey that once killed a wild dog bothering “his flock”, she almost lost her eye!
That is likely the diet of a bobcat in the wilderness: rodents, rabbits and birds. Bobcats are small carnivores, so not likely to be eating plants or chasing large animals such as deer. They avoid skunks for obvious reasons and also generally stay away from other possible predators. Troubles was terrified of both foxes and raccoons.
Of course, our bobcat was a pet, so we supplemented her diet with cat food and fish, plus she stole bones and food from the dogs. A bobcat’s diet is mainly protein! In captivity their diet should include all of this: Fish, chicken, meat, and bones. The bones are not only crucial for calcium, but also help clean the bobcat’s teeth.
Bobcats are really just big cats!
