Our series examining an Image of the Week from the photographic files, by Kevin Warstadt, Edward Connery Lathem ’51 Digital Library Fellow.

Bobcat in the snow, date unknown

Pictured above is the North American bobcat, known as Lynx Rufus or Felis Rufus, from a folder labeled “Animals.” The photo was taken by Professor C. Morse, date unknown. “Kevin,” you say, “don’t you known that the habitats of the bobcat and Canadian Lynx overlap? How can you be sure that the animal pictured above is of the species you claim?” An excellent point, to which I reply, “have you considered that although similar in weight, the Canadian Lynx has longer legs and ears tufts?” I’m no lynx expert, but that looks like a bobcat to me.

According to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, bobcat numbers reached historic lows in the state in the 1970s as the result of two hundred years of unregulated hunting. The department closed bobcat hunting and trapping seasons in 1989, and signs indicate that bobcat populations have returned to healthy levels. Harvest of the bobcat remains closed in New Hampshire to this day, but continues with regulation in Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont.