"I saw your blog posting about the bobcat and wanted to provide you with some additional information.
Bobcats live throughout Plano and the rest of the DFW metroplex. They have adapted their hunting/scavenging techniques to exist in an urban environment and now thrive in parks, neighborhoods, and industrial centers all across North Texas. They are opportunistic foragers that will consume insects, rats, mice, squirrels, birds, rabbits, pet food, discarded food waste, and other types of organic matter. They are slightly larger than the average domestic cat and weigh 18-40 pounds as an adult with the males being much larger than the females.
Attacks on humans by bobcats are incredibly rare. In fact, in recorded history there has never been a reported bobcat attack on a person in Plano. Nationwide there are very few attacks each year and nearly every one of them has been attributed to the animal being sick or injured. A healthy adult bobcat poses virtually no threat to any person, adult or child. As long as they are not sick, injured, or otherwise unable to flee, they will run away from people and will not attack.
Bobcats live throughout Plano and the rest of the DFW metroplex. They have adapted their hunting/scavenging techniques to exist in an urban environment and now thrive in parks, neighborhoods, and industrial centers all across North Texas. They are opportunistic foragers that will consume insects, rats, mice, squirrels, birds, rabbits, pet food, discarded food waste, and other types of organic matter. They are slightly larger than the average domestic cat and weigh 18-40 pounds as an adult with the males being much larger than the females.
Attacks on humans by bobcats are incredibly rare. In fact, in recorded history there has never been a reported bobcat attack on a person in Plano. Nationwide there are very few attacks each year and nearly every one of them has been attributed to the animal being sick or injured. A healthy adult bobcat poses virtually no threat to any person, adult or child. As long as they are not sick, injured, or otherwise unable to flee, they will run away from people and will not attack.
People, including children, are so much larger than their targeted prey that they know we pose a serious threat of injury to them. Their very survival depends upon being able to hunt and scavenge for food. If they are injured, they face the very real possibility of starvation and will therefore do everything they can to avoid a fight with a human or animal that poses a threat to them. The bobcat may lounge or hunt in an area where it feels comfortable, but will run from any person who tries to approach it.
Bobcats have been known to attack very small dogs (less than 10 pounds) and roaming cats, but even these instances are very rare. This is just one of the reasons why Plano's ordinances require all pets be confined to their owner's property or on a leash at all times. At-large pets are at risk of interacting with wildlife, but studies have shown that they are far more likely to be injured or killed by cars, disease, poisons, other at-large domestic animals, and cruelty from humans than they are to be a victim of predation by wildlife. Plano has not had a confirmed report of a pet being a victim of a bobcat attack since 2008 and the pets involved were very small, off leash, and not confined or protected by a fence.
Some people may ask why Plano is not actively trying to trap and remove bobcats and all other wild predators, but doing so is impractical for several reasons. First, removing them would lead to an explosion of the rabbit, squirrel, mice, and rat populations in the city. Bobcats do a great deal in keeping these populations in check; removing them will upset the balance and lead to increased complaints about these species. Second, trapping and relocating the bobcats will usually end in death for the trapped animals which will lead to complaints from those who enjoy our wildlife.
People may mistakenly believe that the bobcats are a danger, but few actually want them all dead. Third, they are very difficult to catch due to their apprehension towards people. This means that a trapping program would require a great deal of equipment and staff time, which would require additional money from Plano's citizens.
It does not make financial sense to make the necessary investment in this type of program when these animals have never been responsible for a single injury in the city's history, especially when you compare this statistic to the more than 600 reported injuries that domestic pets cause each year in Plano. Lastly, trapping is a temporary solution to a permanent problem. It would only be a matter of days, weeks, or months before new bobcats would move into this vacated territory.
The tips you provided are good starting points and for additional information, people can visit our website and the DFW Wildlife Coalition, which has a wonderful website full of information on all types of native wildlife. People can visit their website to find out how to prevent bobcats and other wild animals from being attracted to their homes.
Wildlife are attracted to neighborhoods for one of three reasons: food, water, or shelter and it is very important that all residents remove these attractants so that the wildlife are not motivated to enter neighborhoods.
In summary, bobcats are great small predators that keep rodent populations in check while posing essentially no threat to any person, residents should take the necessary steps to ensure that they aren't inadvertently attracting wildlife to their neighborhoods, and we hope that people can treat a bobcat sighting as something that is not to be feared but instead appreciated for what it truly is: a rare glimpse into the "wild" side of Plano that few are fortunate enough to experience firsthand."
Bobcats have been known to attack very small dogs (less than 10 pounds) and roaming cats, but even these instances are very rare. This is just one of the reasons why Plano's ordinances require all pets be confined to their owner's property or on a leash at all times. At-large pets are at risk of interacting with wildlife, but studies have shown that they are far more likely to be injured or killed by cars, disease, poisons, other at-large domestic animals, and cruelty from humans than they are to be a victim of predation by wildlife. Plano has not had a confirmed report of a pet being a victim of a bobcat attack since 2008 and the pets involved were very small, off leash, and not confined or protected by a fence.
Some people may ask why Plano is not actively trying to trap and remove bobcats and all other wild predators, but doing so is impractical for several reasons. First, removing them would lead to an explosion of the rabbit, squirrel, mice, and rat populations in the city. Bobcats do a great deal in keeping these populations in check; removing them will upset the balance and lead to increased complaints about these species. Second, trapping and relocating the bobcats will usually end in death for the trapped animals which will lead to complaints from those who enjoy our wildlife.
People may mistakenly believe that the bobcats are a danger, but few actually want them all dead. Third, they are very difficult to catch due to their apprehension towards people. This means that a trapping program would require a great deal of equipment and staff time, which would require additional money from Plano's citizens.
It does not make financial sense to make the necessary investment in this type of program when these animals have never been responsible for a single injury in the city's history, especially when you compare this statistic to the more than 600 reported injuries that domestic pets cause each year in Plano. Lastly, trapping is a temporary solution to a permanent problem. It would only be a matter of days, weeks, or months before new bobcats would move into this vacated territory.
The tips you provided are good starting points and for additional information, people can visit our website and the DFW Wildlife Coalition, which has a wonderful website full of information on all types of native wildlife. People can visit their website to find out how to prevent bobcats and other wild animals from being attracted to their homes.
Wildlife are attracted to neighborhoods for one of three reasons: food, water, or shelter and it is very important that all residents remove these attractants so that the wildlife are not motivated to enter neighborhoods.
In summary, bobcats are great small predators that keep rodent populations in check while posing essentially no threat to any person, residents should take the necessary steps to ensure that they aren't inadvertently attracting wildlife to their neighborhoods, and we hope that people can treat a bobcat sighting as something that is not to be feared but instead appreciated for what it truly is: a rare glimpse into the "wild" side of Plano that few are fortunate enough to experience firsthand."
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