will bobcats swim

[cjohnson1178]

I've had some interesting races this summer at my favorite coon huntin honey hole. 4 times in two months struck the suspected bob in the same general area all 4 times and it ran almost the same path all four times starting on the river and going on a long run through the rocks and into the cliffs. Cought it twice in the cliffs but lost the dogs buy going straight up. (could'nt get to the dogs, dont care much for scaling rocks and cliffs in the middle of the night.) but i could see the dogs bayed up in the rocks looking straight up. So what ever it is I know it can climb and run like hell. The other two times it ran into the cliffs then circled back down to the river and crossed (about 100 yards wide) the dogs ended up bayed in the cliffs on the other side of the river. Pretty sure it aint a coyote or fox. Dont think its a lion cause i dont think a lion would have such a small territory and get caught 4 times in 2 months in such a small area. I've run enough coon to know this aint a coon. Will a bob cross that much water. I have not seen it yet. but i will keep at it until i figure it out. Next time i plan on doing it a little different, by trying to cut off access to the cliffs. If i can keep it from swimming it just might tree. I've caught hundereds of coon in this area. what ever this is its new to me.

[Dads dogboy]

This subject was discussed at lenght not too long ago. Check the Bobcat Section about 4 pages back.

The answer though is YES, any time he wants to a Shorttail will gladly go for a Swim, to elude the Hounds or just for pleasure (raised one years ago in the House, you could not keep Him out of the bathtub with you!) of enjoying a dip! Crossing a River, Creek or small Pond at will.

CJC

[BEAR HUNTER]

Ive had the same exact thing happen to me several times. Almost an exact copy of how you described your hunt. Turned out to be a grey fox. Could be a cat but I'm betting a fox. Thats what mine was.

[houndnem]

I have a spot with cliffs and lots of water that I hunt. I'm not saying it wasn't a bobber, but I have had cliff climbin, water swimmin two mile runnin, big boar coons. Once they been chased and educated you would be surprised where big boar will go.

[BEAR HUNTER]

Houndem you are right. About 10 years ago I kept running something I couldnt catch.It would run for hours. Ran like a fox. I swore it was a fox or bobcat because it would tap trees, climb cliffs, and swim. I could usually start it in the same place every night Called a buddy up who had better dogs than me. After 3 hrs we finally treed it. Was a bobtailed coon blind in both eyes. Where his eyes should have been were just holes . Not even the eyeball just the sockett. As I was in the tree looking at him he bailed out again. Never treed him again.

[coastrangecathunting]

cant believe you just told everyone it took you 3 hours to catch a blind coon .

jc

[cjohnson1178]

thanx for the input. I've never seen a fox or bob out there. I could be wrong but i dont think a fox would leave the dogs at the base of a cliff look straight up.there are lots of coyote but never had a problem with the dogs wanting to run em. I have seen some coon scale the rock walls but never seen one run like this. Still lots of fun just wish the dogs would stay outta the cliffs at night. thanx again.

[007pennpal]

"Houndem you are right. About 10 years ago I kept running something I couldnt catch.It would run for hours. Ran like a fox. I swore it was a fox or bobcat because it would tap trees, climb cliffs, and swim. I could usually start it in the same place every night Called a buddy up who had better dogs than me. After 3 hrs we finally treed it. Was a bobtailed coon blind in both eyes. Where his eyes should have been were just holes . Not even the eyeball just the sockett. As I was in the tree looking at him he bailed out again. Never treed him again."

This story is hard to believe. But, it sounds too crazy to have been fabricated. I guess its one of those things where if you spend enough time in the woods odd things happen. I'm surprised the dogs couldn't stretch Mr. Magoo on the ground. Maybe the blind coon thought the dogs could climb since he couldn't see that they couldn't. I hope I didn't get punked and this was just a joke.

Has anyone ever found other blind animals surviving in the wild? Just wondering.

[George Streepy]

I haven't had much experience with bobs swimming. They will cross creeks and such but I haven't had a problem with them crossing any rivers of any size. I am sure any thing is possible though. In my experience they parallel the river then tree if the dogs are some what tight. I wouldn't go as far as to say you had it caught if you didn't get to see what it was.

Good luck with getting a look at the critter. I would say coon, but who knows.

[Bigfoot]

xxx

[George Streepy]

No, he sure doesn't. I bet he can swim better than I can. I have run a lot of them and haven't seen them swim, usually when they are heading down to the river it is time to climb. I realize anything is possible. I know some of you guys have seen it, and I believe they will. I just don't think it is that common.

[BEAR HUNTER]

HAHAHAHAH Coast range. If you read the post its worse than that. My dogs were to sorry to catch a blind coon. I had to call a friend to bring his dogs. That is a true story. It was a long time ago when I was just starting out. Had one the best coondogs I have ever had. He was an owney bred red tick. But he was 11 years old. SLOW but consistant. Treed a lot of coons for me in this dry lava rock. This blind coon just out ran him. He would stick to the berry bushes then bust out into a canyon filled with lava rock. Would cirlce in their for a while and then climb straight up. My buddy and I both were sure suprised when we finally saw him in a tree. Strangest thing I have seen during my hunting career. Now I have running dogs crossed with English. It would be a different story now. At least I would like to believe that.

[Lonzo]

This trail camera footage from Oklahoma of a bobcat casually entering a river and swimming away should settle this question in anyone's mind:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9-TBpf_jJk

[al baldwin]

Lonzo that is a neat video. I have on a few occasions had bobcats jump in these swift dangerous winter flow streams to exscape the hounds. Had hunter with me when my dogs had a bobcat bayed in decent size, slow flowing river. The old skinner hound was out in the water baying the bob. Had a new dog in the pack that day, at first glance thought the cat was an otter. Knew had started a cat & after a good trail job & hard race, thinking that darn dog has got them on an otter. Surprising how much a bob can look like an otter with only it/s wet head above water. That bob climbed on top of skinners head and pushed him under, about the time I was ready to bail in the river. A big blue tick dove in the water and pulled the cat off skinners head. And finished the cat off. A very scary experience, relieved to get the old hound out safe. The cat sunk but we cut a long pole and fished the cat out. It was not a big bobcat. Seems most coon in this area tree easy, but have had a few that shocked me after a hard race. Al

[Lonzo]

I knew, of course, that a bobcat would swim if threatened but the remarkable thing about this video is that he was not under any kind of pressure, and chose to cross where the river formed a broad pool when he could have gone a short distance out of his way and bounded across without getting more than his paws wet.