Ok gents I did my search on old topics cuz it probably does get old answering the same questions, so if I missed it somewhere send me off in the right direction
My question is on Bobcats crossing rivers when the pressure is on, in this case it was 150 yrds. wide river without alot of current, or maybe even when the pressure aint on its butt, do they take to water, some say cats and water, aint no way, this is not a ankle deep water question, more like a swimming cat question ?
Thankyou in advance for any thoughts or experience's on this topic.
I have hunted bobcats along 2 major rivers for the past 25 yrs and I have never had them take to the water they have made it close many times but always seem to avoid taking to the water. I have cought them within a stone throw of the water but never had one bail in and go for the other shore. I have had them do just about everything else you could imagine. I am sure in the right situation they would take to the water, maybe I have just been lucky. later, Andy
Them that say it “Ain't So” might not have run enough Bobcat to know where of they speak! (oops Twist posted after I had written this)
Everywhere Dad has hunted when pressured or not Water is about third on the list of things that a Cat will use to stop his pursuers!
A SMART Cat who has been successful eluding Hounds with and in the Water in the Past will use it as a 1st choice. The Cat will cross and re cross, hide in it, walk out on a leaning tree and jump into it, any thing that you can imagine, a Cat has already thunk it up and done it to Hounds somewhere!
In Florida as well as LA, TX and here in AR, Bobcat will not hesitate to cross the widest and deepest Rivers….Creeks are nothing for one to use.
Many years ago Dad was running a Cat in the Brazos River bottoms south of home. The Cat crossed the River twice (about 200 yds wide and swiftly flowing) when this failed to stop the Hounds the third time he hit the River and went out of site floating and swimming right in the middle of the Channel. Dad could not cross so he had sat on the bank and listened to the Race then got to watch the Cat float away…one SMART Cat!
In Florida Water is everywhere. When the track gets warmed up and the Cat determines that it ain’t Deer Dogs after him…to the water he will go. If Hounds are good enough to keep the pressure on the Cat he will eventually leave the water for a different set of tricks.
While he is in the Water, several times Dad has seen the Cat submerge himself all the way leaving just the tip of its nose out of the water. He will stay there until a Hound literally swims by and touches him…then explode out of the water and run to dry ground for a little while…then back to the water.
Hope this answers your question….before I get in trouble with David for a “Sweeping Statement” let me qualify the above with “this is what Dad has found where he has hunted over the last 52 years”.
Haha. Well, I agree with twist and CJC. When I hunted the mountains of the west, I can not ever remember a bobcat taking to water. I have had them cross streams, but can not say they had to get wet to do it. In a place where massive trees occasionally get broken off or blown over, there are some mighty fine bridges in places. Trouble is, the hunter might not ever find those bridges to get to his dogs, so it sure can be inconvenient. I myself have crossed those streams, and as folks who live there know, it is snow melt, glacier melt all year long and is never anything but ice cold. It absolutely takes all the air right out of your body, and you are not sure if you will ever breath again. I cant help but think a cat might notice the temperature difference between Florida water and Montana water.
Minnesota does not have cat running during open water. They love running the water when it is hard water though. MN used to have no closed season on coon, and coon hunters have witnessed bobcats swimming the summer swamps. That water is pretty warm also compared to Montana.
It sure is amazing and fun getting the stories from the south. Man I can just see that cat nose sticking out of the water with dogs swimming around. So amazing.
I'm no bobcat hunter but about 12 yrs ago I hunted with a guy running trigg/walker crosses. The ranch we hunted was along the sacramento river. Tons of briars that opened up into walnut orchards and fields. The river formed a horseshoe around the ranch. The cats would come in eating the quail and turkeys. Several times when the dogs put enough pressure on the bobcat they would swim the river and end up getting treed on the other side.
When we hunted areas where there were places for the cat to go away from water we never had them cross the river. I imagine that if a cat grows up in country where there is lots of water they are pretty used to it. In the winter all those rivers/creeks, etc flood and the cat has to get around. I have seen Wildlife shows where monkeys and African lions that live in flood areas swim and play in water. I imagine enviroment is the key. From what I have read of Dads Dogboy post they hunt alot of swamps. That may be why they have had so many cats hit the water. I'm interested to know if he thinks my theory has merit or if I'm way off base.
Last edited by BEAR HUNTER on Wed Apr 14, 2010 2:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
I can say for a fact that cats swim when thay are getting scared and have no other options, i remember about four years ago we were hunting in the snow and had a heck of a race right above the road and my buddy got out his camera and was videoing the race and about that time here comes bob with around twelve dogs fixin to put teeth to him, that cat ran across the road and went out this snag jumped into the beaver pond wich was around seventy yards wide and kept right on a running them hounds ran that thing in a circle above the pond for ten mins and here he came again that cat jumped in the water and went under the water in to a bever hole in the bank and if i can get the little clip i will try and post it some how. So now the dogs are in there with the cat but for some reason they couldent kill it.Let me tell you thats about impossible trying to get them to quit with that thing groweling and fighting in there, so finaly we get the dogs and head down the road we go back two hours later and trail him up, this time they catch him on the ground but the odd thing was there was no bay up they just quit barking so i ran down to the dogs because a young dog was booger barking that cat was stiff as board with in two mins, my buddy told me that he has seen them dogs run them cats till there heat blows up but onely a few times in his life. What do you guys think causes them cats to get stiff that fast i mean like riggimortis they were jumped hard on that bob right before it ended.And i do a little bit of hunting on the smith river and they swim there to.
Ive seen a bobcat run across a bridge make a cirrcle then bail in the river and cross back where it came from. This winter run a little female 20or 30 minutes in the dark about daylite she hit the river and the dogs caught her about halfway across 50 yards from the truck
We have talked about the Bobcat getting STIFF several times here on BGH.
It seems that a Bobcat has very little or NO Body Fat, and what there is, is not found much in the muscle tissue.
When a Cat is run hard they are burning up energy, this uses up their supply of stored calories in the little fat that they have. When it is gone, muscle tissue starts to break down to supply the energy it needs.
Once this supply is gone the Cat basically gets a Charlie horse in its entire body and will fall over Dead or if Treed it Falls out of the Tree. This happens more with Females as they tend to try to keep running instead of stopping to fight it out as a Tom will. This happens almost immediately in a Cat who is caught on the ground...when the fight is over, the Cat will be stiff in seconds!
We have this happen several times a year...just last Dec. Glen Rybard ran a small Sow Cat almost 4 hours when the Race was just over...no baying or fighting...Glen marked it on his Garmin then walked right to the Cat and it looked like she had died in mid-stride without a Hound mark on it!
( I have to edit this Para. Glen did run a Sow almost 4 hrs in Dec., and she did expire without a fight. However the Race I ment to post about was from earlier in the Fall here is the quote from that post: "In September Glen Rybard in AR ran a Cat 7:54 before the Cat fell over dead as there was no bay or fight. Glen marked the end of the Race track on his Garmin and walked in to retrieve the Cat and said it looked as if the Cat died in mid-stride.")
Bear Hunter,
We think that you are right on with the Bobcat using the Environment that he is familiar with to its advantage in eluding the Hounds.
Dad likes to say that God gave the Bobcat a BRAIN instead of Lungs (like a Fox or Yote). The Bobcat uses these smarts and its knowledge of its home territory to give a pack of Hounds the hardest time possible.
It seems that Bobcat in all parts of the Country are born with certain TRICKS stored in their DNA....then add to these with acquired tricks from eluding Deer Hounds or other Critters that like to eat Bobcats or do not want them in their territory (we think that Yotes as they move into an area are hard on Bobcats, we know that they will clean out the Red and Grey Fox initially).
In certain parts of the Country Bobcat use Rocks in the same manner that they use Water where we Hunt. The Cat will use what ever he has, it might be a Railroad track, it might be a road, highway, River, Lake, abandoned farmstead, Culvert under a road, sink hole, Beaver Ponds and any other feature of opportunity to hide and elude all of our Cat Hounds!
Thankyou for the great info everyone, I sure enjoy and learn lots while reading all your experience's on these critters and what they are capable of, in times of need.
Thanks again and will probably come up with more questions when I run across strange happenings out their in the woods, at least they are strange to a rookie "cat chaser" slash wannabe "cat catcher" consistantly that is, on michigan bare ground, I am a dreamer
