By Natalie Bazinet, Aroostook Republican News
This Canada lynx has earned celebrity status in Aroostook County as this photo, taken by Leslie Jackson of Washburn, has been a social media hit. Jackson spotted the cat on July 15 near the Washburn/Caribou line on Route 164.
WASHBURN, Maine — One of the challenges of wildlife photography is that subjects rarely stay still — but Director of Aroostook County Tourism Leslie Jackson didn’t have that problem at all when she came across an easy-going Canada lynx on July 15.
While taking a Sunday drive, Jackson spotted the normally elusive cat near the Washburn/Caribou line on Route 164, lounging in the shade about 30 to 40 feet off the road. “We stopped and luckily I had my camera with me; I took seven or eight shots and we watched it for about five minutes — it had no concerns at all that we were there,” Jackson said.
To confirm the species, Jackson sent the photo along to Richard Hoppe, regional biologist at the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife office in Ashland. “Definitely a lynx, nice picture with the cat seemingly not having a care in the world on this hot day,” Hoppe wrote to Jackson.
He told Jackson that the sighting would be documented to the site record and added that they had noted lynx tracks around the Carson Road.
Lynx are a federally threatened species. According to the DIF&;W website, adult males average about 33.5 inches long and weigh between 26 and 30 pounds; females are about 32 inches long and average 19 pounds.
Additional information regarding the Canada lynx can be found by visiting www.maine.gov/ifw/
wildlife/species/endangered_species/canada_lynx.
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