The bobcat (Lynx rufus) is renowned for its ferocity but it rarely attacks humans. There are probably about a million bobcats in the United States with greater population densities in some areas than in others where it has been driven out as a pest. It will eat small domestic animals and poultry but is more likely to hunt rodents, rabbits, large birds, reptiles and small deer. It is now listed as a species of special concern and although some states allow regulated hunting it is protected in others. It lives a solitary life and males and females come together only to mate in the early spring.
