BOBCAT
			Phylum: Class: Order: Family: Species: Chordata Mammalia Carnivora Felidae Lynx rufus

The bobcat is the North American equivalent of the European wildcat. Bobcats weigh up to 20 lbs. (9 kg.) and measure up to 3 feet (90 cm) including the very short tail. The ears are tipped with pointed tufts, like those of the closely related lynx. Exp eriments suggest that the tufts somehow help the ears collect sound. Most bobcats are brown, spotted with gray, or white. Their range stretches out from Canada to Mexico, including habitats from deserts to forests.

These solitary creatures hunt at night. The size of each animal's range may be 5 to 50 miles (8 to 80 km) across according to the food supply the range holds. Bobcats mainly hunt rabbits and rodents, but will tackle many other kinds of prey, even killin g deer and domestic livestock.

Most females give birth to two kits, usually at the end of winter. The young are prey to foxes and horned owls. Adult bobcats are killed by pumas and are widely persecuted by man.