Bobcat in Residence

Bobcat (from Pixabay) so you can see the coloring

Bibbity, bobbity, boo!

So says the Fairy Godmother in Disney’s Cinderella. At our place, the magic spell goes bibbity, bobcattiby—boo…

Because the bobcat that menaced our hens is getting conjured up on a regular basis. In fact, evidence suggests the cat has gotten awfully comfortable around here. 

Just last week, he lounged in a patch of bare ground just outside our fence. John ran to get his camera, opened the back door and shot all kinds of pics.

The bobcat just stared at us and lazily switched his short tail.

What’s funny is, our one hen seems to have gotten accustomed to the bobcat too. She’ll cackle when it comes around, but doesn’t even run into the coop anymore.

She doesn’t seem to be anxious either, because she’s also laying like a champ—in 2 ½ weeks, she’s produced 16 eggs!

I’m certainly more relaxed now that we keep her penned up pretty much 24/7. If John is running the weed-whacker close by, we’ll let her into her yard to free-range, but that’s it.

With just one chicken scratching the ground of her caged pen, a few weeds are actually growing in there. I imagine before summer’s over, she’ll have all kinds of greens to peck at in the comfort of her safe spot.

Five minutes ago, I saw the cat on top of our back fence. A bobcat, against the rich green of midsummer, is not hard to see—their distinctive coat is a variegated mix of tawny browns with a bit of black, and a white flash on his tail.

Today, as he jumped off the fence, I grabbed my iPad for a shot, and caught the bobcat sauntering across the open spot where we’d seen him last week.

When I opened the back door, he saw me, paused, then just went on his merry way. (See cat on the grass, just above the bare strip of ground.) 

He must have figured out John and I are no threat to him—but hopefully he’s also got the idea that partaking at our chicken buffet is over.

So it seems that all four of us—John, me, the former Miss Broody, which we now call “Missy,” and the bobcat seem to have found equilibrium.

And if the bobcat is hanging around to feed on Berryridge mice and voles, more power to him!