Pee Post Education For The Novice

[barksalot]

Other than knowing that they exist, believing that they serve as territory boundaries and having found a few, I have a bunch of questions;

How frequent are they? Are they rare or are they scattered throughout a cat's territory?

Are they used by cats in adjoining territories? Which brings up, is the cat population a mixed, fluid situation or do they generally function in family groups within a more or less fixed territory?

Are pee post used by males? females? young or mature? all?

Are they used in certain seasons or year around?

If you know the location of pee post, is that a good location to strike a cat?

What other information would be helpful that I don't know enough to ask the question?

Thanks for any help that anyone might offer. Most likely I will never become a passable bobcat hunter but thanks to the knowledgeable hunters on here who are willing to share, I have the hope to build a base of knowledge from which to learn while I am out there beating the brush. The current subject "Cold Trailing" has been a wealth of information on scenting and on rigging.
Thanks again; Bayne

[david]

https://naturallycuriouswithmaryholland ... t-marking/

I think she said six times per mile, another one said
"Some researchers have documented bobcats making over a dozen scent marks per mile."

To be honest with you, I think there are successful bobcat hunters that know very little on this topic. And even scientists who study it say there is a lot that is unknown about this.

But bobcats do it more than I thought. I used to see scratch posts back in the eighties. I have not noticed one in many years. I see the scrapes and sometimes the spray in the snow. They also mark with the corners of their mouths, and I think this is what the dogs are noticing when you see them put their nose slowly up against a peice of brush about head high to a bobcat. I don't know any other animal that illicits this response from a dog. That along with the fact that dogs seem to love to eat cat feces of a certain vintage, are probably the two factors that might help you the most in guessing at what the dogs are fooling with.

Yes, they do travel the same routes and when you identify a track, toilet, scratch post, scrape, spray, or mouth rub, Mark it on your Garmin. Sometimes they seem random, but often you will hit the cat track there at a later date.

Yes they are territorial and seem very aware of each other's presence, and I think it is because of all the marking. I have seen new cats move into an area where a big dominant Tom was removed from, within a couple days.

They say both male and female will mark territory. And keeping your females alive will keep the toms checking in. Female territory is much smaller. The edges of territories may overlap.

And then you come across a spot that just seems like grand central station and you wonder how that works with all the territorialism?

I have way more questions than answers, but it didn't seem like anyone wanted to tackle the subject so I am just trying to break the ice.

I do know this for sure: Hunters who have never even heard of a pee post can catch bobcats with the right dogs. We so seldom see bobcats in their everyday activity, there is a lot that would be really hard to learn about them.

[al baldwin]

Good job David. When I say a scent post, I am mean any place a cat has left scent that the dogs flag or open on. Al

[david]

I was hoping Dewey might chime in, but I will pass on some helpful information I learned from him. Since I was young the typical belief was that if a dog checks a scent concentration and pees on it, then it is a canine scent post. I would still think this except that Dewey observed in the snow, and otherwise, that dogs will pee on a feline scent post just as much as they do coyote or fox.

Somewhere out there is a video of a bear marking a tree in bear fashion, and later a bobcat checks the same tree and sprays it: testimony to the cross-species statement at the same location.

[pegleg]

We don't have snow so its pretty much conjecture on my part. Some places seem to be visited by any cat that comes into a area. These are places its tempting to hunt hard and I suppose if you have heavy cat numbers it might work out ok. I try to be selective about running off them. Here its dry for long periods so urine sticks around in a dry state and sometimes you can actually see where they spray but not often. I'm not sure if its chance or choice but normally its really a post here or a dead mesquite they seem less discriminating in oaks. I have seen them spray on rock but only a few places where there isn't anything else. Bunch grass seems to be a favorite but that might be because they like messing in the clumps anyway. I thought it was mice or bird's that was the draw to the bunch grass but don't think so anymore. I was in a area between a low rock ridge and a dirt tank when are first monsoons came in it didn't quite rain but the humidity got high. That's the strongest I've ever smelled bobcat I wasn't exactly sure at first. What you can do also is collect sand with house cat urine and place it in likely spots and check it freaquently or put a trail cam up. Most guys probably don't go that far for bobcat but it helps. And David is correct everything else will scent over it. Which is why a camera is probably wise. I've got a hound that will run coyote if encouraged just the least. All because I encouraged her where I couldn't see tracks just new urine drops on one I set out. Probably the easiest method of finding them is following your younger dogs they are easier to read and react more to things.

[1bludawg]

I've found cat toilets and scratch posts but can't ever remember the dogs striking on the same pee post .I believe it's mostly territorial because they do it almost anywhere in their travels .Of course this would also help during the breeding season .
.Both sexes do it as i've caught little females off a roaring pee post strike as well as big toms.
I forgot to mention they do it year round .
I was watching Garys tv show one time when they called in a bobcat ,deciding not to take it they just observed it for awhile.Before it slipped away in the brush it took the opportunity to spray a bush .
I usually get my pee post strikes on roadside small trees(seedlings),a bush or a tall weed.I remember one time while roading the dogs hit and kept smelling up towards a limb.We weren't exactly sure what it was but the dogs treed a big tom bobcat.Interesting topic.

[dwalton]

Have not been around for a while and seen this post with David asking for some input. It is territorial behavior most of it has been covered but will share a little. On the studies bobcats shared the same post especially on the ridges. Cats will piss on bushes, have toilets on bark piles and logs. In my younger days I was told that when the dogs strike and get down to check it and get back up that it was a coyote piss bush, which it can be. So being young I went to break them from striking piss bushes. I did but also broke them from striking bobcats. It took a little while to put two and two together and realized that I could put up with piss bush strikes if I wanted to run bobcats. Top strike dogs that are cold trailers will catch a lot of cats off toilets and piss bushes but in good scent conditions a lot of time can be wasted if you let them down to check them all. I have caught bobcats from a scratch and come back through three days later and hit the same scratch. I have seen dogs strike and go to a piss bush in old snow and by the conditions assume the bobcat was there two or three days ago. Dogs that strike piss bushes and toilets can give you an idea of how many bobcats are working an area and a place to come back to. If your dogs are not striking piss bushes I would think that you are missing a lot of cats if cats are in the area, which can be verified by looking for toilets. Finding a toilet that a tom or two was working I would come back until I caught that cat. Last winter I hunted for big toms by hunting the high ridges and looking for toilets and tracks. In snow I could locate the females and kittens and stay away from them early on in the season. Most of my hunting was bare ground with 22 toms taken out of 30 trees. That is the best that I have been able to do just trying to hunt toms. This is how I see it which is just my opinion which is all of us have based on our experiences. Good hunting Dewey

[macedonia mule man]

Dwalton, of all the cats you have caught, how many (percetage wise) do you think we're due to piss post strike?

[Gary Roberson]

1bludawg is correct about the tom that I called up and observed for over 30 minutes. We did not use all the footage in the CATASTROPHIC DVD as some folks would have considered it boring. If memory serves me correctly, that particular mature tom sprayed three different bushes within less than 100' by 100'.
I did not witness the tom marking anything until I got him to stick his nose in the speaker. After he spooked off a little, he settled back down quickly and began marking. I think he may have marked one bush that I did not get on video. I was wondering if he was so strongly marking that spot because he was sure that food was there, (My e-caller).
Your have a great memory 1bludawg!
Adios,
Gary

[dwalton]

macedonia mule man it is hard to say, if it is a fresh track it may be a bush that got their attention or it could be from body scent. Probably 50% of the strikes I get that are tracks that they cold trail off on are from them going to a piss bush or scratch and working the track from there. I know that if one does not have a good strike dog that will hit the piss bushes or scratches you will not find many bobcats out here on bare ground. Dewey

[Tanner Peyton]

One thing I noticed Bayne is breading season tends to effect the amount of pee post in an area. It seams like the bull cats will more frequently stop buy toilets and pee post during breading season. I've been told this type of behavior is used a territory claimer.

[barksalot]

While I am still a novice and may always remain a novice, thanks to each of you I am now a more informed novice. It may be that because the bobcat is a complicated and elusive animal, the people who pursue them are more observant and analytical in their approach in everything from dogs to techniques. In any endeavor there are individuals who rise to the top by employing all of their assets but it seems to be a common practice among those who chase the bobcat. It is for very good reasons that the dogs and the techniques vary widely across the country, from the north to the south to the east and to the west, and we are all better off because of the sharing. Thanks; Bayne