I know! These are the coolest photos yet. I got a few more 2 days later but in the evening. I can't believe this guy stopped by at 1:30 in the afternoon. Just wild.:)

Yes, these are the best photos so far. When I saw them I said "WOW" it is so cool to see this bobcat, they are just awesome looking creatures. Amazing!

In the house, or maybe in the backyard, not sure at the time of the photo. The dripping spigot is out front. Our backyard is walled in with bricks, not that a bobcat could not jump over a wall but I think the bobcat has plenty of rabbits to eat along with the quail and dove, I don't think he is going to mess with the dog. Or at least I hope not... do bobcats know how to use a dog door? I hope not.

Me too.

While they're magnificent to look at, you sure don't want to piss one off.

Nor do I. Willy the dog is a little bit taller than the bobcat but I have read bobcats can take down a small deer and Willy is in no way as large as a deer. The bobcat hides pretty well, we pretty much never see him except on the gamecam. I was surprised to see him out in the afternoon. It has not rained here in months. My guess is this is one of his only water sources. He/she is pretty cool looking.

I'd  be worried about it hiding nearby and launching a surprise attack on the dog, especially if that's a female and she chooses to have her litter nearby.  Just be careful!  These critters can slash a dog's throat or eyes out in a heartbeat.

"Bob" or Roberta" is huge! Yes, a Bobcat might figure out a dog door. My uncle built a cat door into his home, left for a weekend and came home to a real mess. It seems all of the neighbor cats figured it out and were partying in his house while he was away.

He built a different door that required his cats to learn to pull the door open and it kept the rabble away.

eViL, I will, and thanks for the info. From what I have read around here they seem to be pretty elusive, avoid people at all costs unless they are rabid. :) I looked on our local game and fish site, pretty much no warnings on bobcats unless one has a "small pet"  I don't think Willy the dog would be considered small but if a bobcat were hungry enough who knows. We have tons and tons of rabbits this year not to mention all the quail and assorted other birds. Bobcat has avoided us if not for the gamecam we would not even know he/she was around. Thanks for the warning.

WOW AJay, I hope bobcat does not figure out the dog door. I hope he stays out front, outside where he belongs. :) I can only imagine what it must have been like to have all the neighborhood kitties playing inside... what a mess.:)

It was according to my Aunt and Uncle. If you are not home I suggest you lock it. If your dog is out back my bet is that "Bob" won't try it.

When they told me the story some years back it was really funny, tho don't imagine they thought so when it happened.

Oh my guess is it was not funny at the time, but is now. I think they have pet doors where the dog or cat wares a collar that activates the door and if you don't have the collar on, the door won't open. Maybe I should look into one of those.

With all of the wild animals where you live, not a bad idea.

He/she is beautiful and thank you for that info. I was pretty sure ol' bobcat would leave Willy the dog alone but reading your comment makes me feel better. I know we have plenty of rabbits and of course the quail and doves around. This year we seem to have tons and tons of rabbits, probably because we have not seen as many coyotes in the area. I think Willy would be smart enough to whip through the dog door if bobcat came too close and I hope bobcats don't know how to use a dog door. Bobcat is pretty good at avoiding us, if not for the gamecam we would have never known he/she was around.

I had a run in with a momma bobcat once. I got to close to her kits. I did not know they were there. As soon as I started backing away to leave she stopped and watched to see I did. They are shy and as a rule non aggressive.

I would think that to a bobcat, the overwhelming smell of humans would keep her out but I do not know for sure.

Thank you, that makes me feel better. According to AZ game and fish they say the same, bobcats avoid people. This one sure does. If not for the gamecam we would never even know this bobcat was around. I did see one in the street early one morning, a year or two back I posted it as 'weirdest looking coyote' it was under highest rated but that 'highest rated' thing is gone now and I can't remember if it was last year of the year before I posted it. As you know it is almost impossible to search a post these days with the tags and categories thing... if not I would have given you the link. That is the only bobcat I have seen in real life since I have lived here... well once probably 20 years ago we saw one with a rabbit in its mouth but that was 5/10 miles from here. :) I think bobcat is thirsty, it has not rained here if forever and now it is cold... suppose to be a low of 16 tonight, breaking all records, it never gets that cold here. When it is 16 there is not going to be any not frozen water around... I wonder what all the critters are going to drink. It is dry as heck around here. :)

Feed stores sell a water heater unit so that animals have water to drink a bit large I think for your needs OR I found this on line:

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/archive/index.php/t-65982.html

I like the straw/box idea, there is no electricity by the spigot. It does not often get cold enough here to freeze much water, maybe a half inch or so but it was 18 degrees last night... our water pipes were frozen for a few moments untl my husband put a storage bin over where they enter the house and with the use of an extention cord and a space heater got them going again. In our area we have, everyone has exposed pipes because it almost never, ever gets cold enough to even think about it... the forecast tonight.... 16 degrees.... YIKES, I have been home putting insulation on our water pipe coming into the house, also put a cardboard box over it with rocks on top because our wind last night and tonight is just nuts.... we have not had cold like this here in my entire lifetime. Weird weather shifts all over I guess. I don't know if our homes are built for this kind of stuff... no I do know, they are NOT. They are built for it never getting cold enough to freeze an exposed pipe. :)

Most likely I will pour hot water in the pan in the morning, also bring in the hummingbird feeders at dark and put them out in the moring. I had some birds come buy to drink out of my fountain, like they do every morning, yet the fountian was frozen, in my haste to get my mom to the doctor, I filled some empty tuna cans with water and set them on the fountain, when I got home at 2 pm, the tuna cans were frozen solid along with a bowl of water I put out for the birds, the area was in the shade but I was shocked... this kind of freezing stuff does not normally happen here.

I made sure to toss the birds some seed when I got home, liquid water in the tray, thawed out the tuna can water, checked all the hummingbird feeders I had put out this morning because the ones that were out there were frozen, so far so good... water, sugar water OK for now. I will bring in the hummingbird feeders right after dark and put them out in the morning... wild this kind of weather is just nuts, it NEVER gets this cold here. Crazy arctic wind. :) By Monday it is suppose to be back up in the 70s for a high and I will be happy for that.

I would be happy to see 33 degrees...not to be though....

:) I know, But your houses are built for cold... ours are not, they might be built for hot, but many are not, here (or at least in the past) they don't so much believe in insulation... do you like temps over 100? Our summers are HOT. Our winters are usually mild, but not so mild this year... though the freakish cold is only for a few days. Come on down and warm up sometime. :) And really, why EXPOSED water pipes, well cause most of the time it never gets cold enough to matter.... silly area, silly builders. :) Silly southern Arizona desert dwellers. :)

Even with our pipes frozen I was thankful that we don't ever have to shovel snow off our roof or dig out our driveway. As cold as it was today, I still felt lucky but also knew we needed to protect or pipes from tonight... it does not get this cold here often but when it does... most are not prepared. :) I want water but more than that.... I want NOT to have to replace broken pipes. :) Stay warm and stop by southern Az sometime and enjoy the sunshine. :)

LOL! This house was not built for cold or if it was all the insulation went to the bottom under the house..it was built in 1925 and termites have done a job on it! It has air leaks everywhere, I sealed them last year but the house has moned so much that all the work I did is gone...I just might wind uo moving to AZ! This cold is NUTS!

Our house was built in the 50s, brick, no insulation in the walls at all. Exposed pipes sticking right out of the ground and then running into the brick walls. :) but still AZ rocks on weather, email me, I will tell you how totally wonderful most of our weather is. And when you think about it, we have a few months in the summer where it is HOT but it is usually cool in the evenings and mornings just the day is hot and there is no shoveling snow off your roof or driveway in hot, so you may stay inside but you don't have to shovel hot, ever.:)

I will email you when I get back on in the new place. Then we will have time to really talk...

:) sent you a little message about my area, no need to respond, take your time and do a little Internet research. Stay warm.... and good luck at that. :) Take care.

Thank you, this gamecam is cool. :) I know bobcats are nocturnal, my guess is because it has not rained here in forever, water sources are drying up, bobcat stopped by for the 16 year old drip. :) Now why day time... I don't know except it has been freakishly dry, even for the desert and this is an easy water source, with no one around except 'gamecam". :) Beautiful animal.

Your story reminds me of one of mine.  About 6 years ago, we took care of a wolf/husky hybrid for a friend for several months.  He looked pretty much like a wolf.   He broke loose from his chain one day....and I got a call from a nieghbor...it seems he went after their cat in the yard, when the lady opened the door to let the cat in, woofie-dog ran right in behind it.  I guess he knocked over some furniture, and made a real mess...The guy referred to him as the 'shepherd looking dog'--I never told him any different.  Figured he would really freak if he knew it was a wolf...lol!  We always made sure he was very securely chained up after that.

WOW!

I guess so, bobcats are loners.

"Usually solitary and territorial animals, females never share territory with each other. Male territories, however, tend to overlap. Territories are established with scent markings and territory sizes are extremely varied – generally 25-30 square miles for males and about five square miles for females."

LOL you are too funny. It is not food it is water. He/she stops by for water. Cool cat huh and cool name. :) "return shipping label" LOL. On a side note, seems your updates and new pages load much faster for me, actually so do the old ones. Are you going to make a 'see all comments' up at the top of the new pages like the old ones have? I hope so because I like to see all. Keep up the good work, and thanks!

I think so too, so glad you enjoyed it.

Thank you. He is awesome. I think that drip has been going nearly 16 years. It just drips enough to keep the pan full. Sometimes in the summer we have to get it started again because it gets too slow to keep water in the pan. We fixed all the other drips as to not waste water but this one has a purpose.:) Glad you enjoyed bobcat.

Thanks, so glad you enjoyed it.

I know! This game cam thing totally ROCKS!

RUN for sure unless they were rabid. :) Bobcats totally don't like people. It was amazing to see, but it has been so... so dry here, it has not rained in forever. I think poor bobcat was thirsty and no one was around. :) Bobcats here pretty much always avoid people. I do wonder how he/she is because everything, I mean everything froze last night. At 3 when I got home there was still ice in this pan where bobcat had a drink. It only got somewhat thawed due to the sun shine. Last nights low was 18 tonight's they say will be 16... a total record low... In all my years here, it has never been this cold and so darn windy. But  by Monday they say theh high will be in the low 70s and of course the low will in no way be 16, 18 or even 30. :)

You are welcome. It was so cool to see, they are really beautiful animals. I feel lucky that he stopped by and that I had the borrowed game cam to capture his photo. So glad you enjoyed it too.