What to do if a bobcat family sets up in your backyard

Colin Lee was casually mowing his lawn in northwest Calgary one day this summer when a bobcat darted out from under his deck and ran directly at him.

After a momentary stare down, the wild cat growled aggressively. Lee thendiscovered a half eaten rabbit under his deck, so decided to leave the cat and dispose of the carcass at a later time.

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He then discovered why the bobcatwas so defensive when he saw threekittensjoining their protective mother. In this case, they were eating a squirrel on his deck for breakfast.

When he tried to get out his back gate to go to work, he had another showdown with the momma bobcat.

"Then I hear this kind of whooshing.... I look up to my right and this thing is on the cap of my fence looking down on me," said Lee. "You knowwhen you see a cat really crouch down and it's got its hackles up.... It followed me the length of my fence which is about 30 or 40 feet."

He fortunately made it out unscathed, andtextedhis family a warning, but he ran into the bobcats again in late August.

Lee decided to contact the authorities, and was told to "throw small rocks" or spraythem with a hose to make them feel not welcomed.

"This is not typical at all. This is not Fish Creek Park," he said about the visitors near the community of Varsity.

But Brett Boukall, a seniorwildlife biologist with Alberta Environment and Parks, doesn't recommend harassingwildlife. Hesays a spray of water might be OK, butthe best thing to do is to make our yards less attractive for wildlife to stay.

• Clean up backyard garbage.
• Keeping pet food inside.
• Think about losing your bird feeder, which can attractbobcat prey.
• Fixing holes under decks or steps to not provide them shelters.
• Trimming hedges and shrubs.
• Bobcats like a quiet spacenot used by people, so get out there more often.
• Think about installing motion-sensor lights.

Boukallsaysbobcatshave been in the city since the1980sbut they've been becoming more regular. He says it's because they are becoming more habituated to humans.

"As they become more comfortable, we are going to be seeing them in places we may notexpect them especially if there areprey and food for them, as well as places where they can reside," he said, adding places likes decks and abandoned homes provide them shelter.

Wildlife expert Chris Fisher says bobcats will spend the winter in Calgaryand do hang out in sheltered places, such as under peoples decks.

Fisher said they reproducein the spring in more permanent dens, while in winter they might change up den sites.

So if you see a larger-than-normal house cat that looks a little wild, and hasblack bars on its cheeks and brownish forehead whichsets bobcats apart from lynx, you may want to take action before they set up shop for the winter or summer.

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