Friend Shaped, Wild at Heart
Bobcats are just great. They have such cute faces–they look like they are smiling. You see one, and it’s just this little guy watching you while you hike– well, judging you (he is a cat after all).
But even if you’re being judged, that smile is good-humored. So you see, they do fit that saying, “If not friend, why friend shaped?” Because of their size, they could almost be housecats!
In fact, this brings me to an encounter story.
The Cat in the Woods
I spend a lot of time at a local state park. One of the people who works there is very much an animal lover– cat lover. Her job at the park is one that has her outdoors all the time.
One day, she saw a cat, not too far from her, in the woods. She took some photos of it and started planning how she was going to take care of it. She sent the photos to her friends in a group chat and explained that she had found a cat. She was worried about it being out in the woods all alone. She said she was going to try to feed it and catch it and keep it.
It was quickly pointed out to her that it was a bobcat.
Mistaken Identities
The idea of mistaking a bobcat for a housecat sounds funny, but maybe part of the fun of a bobcat is how they fit into both myth and truth.
I live in the south and here, we have all kinds of mistaken identities when it comes to cats. If you were to ask wildlife experts, they will tell you that the only wildcats here are bobcats. If you ask some locals, they will tell you that they have personally seen mountain lions and black panthers. They will tell you with 100% certainty that they even have a picture from their neighbor’s trail cam.
Sometimes it’s actually a bobcat. Well, sometimes it’s a housecat so that’s really funny. Sometimes you do see a mountain lion, but then you question if they really got it from a local trail cam.
Photos are no longer proof of anything.
Photos or it Didn’t Happen
People always cite cameras as a reason someone’s story isn’t true- You didn’t see a (pick your cryptid) because if they existed, with everyone having a phone camera, it would absolutely have been captured. In fact, you have a phone, photos or it didn’t happen!
Well. I’ve lived a very long life and fully believe in bobcats and I’ve never ever ever been able to take a photo of one.
People who do take photos of mountain lions, bigfoot, or anything else mysterious, are met with the idea that the photo is fake, the photo wasn’t taken here… its AI. I don’t know.
Back to Bobcats
But back to bobcats- they are mysterious and aloof. They are friend shaped. They have big ears.
The sounds they make are enough to make you question your choices in being in the woods alone. To hear one may make a believer out of you- in what? I don’t know, whatever you are currently afraid of.
Except of course, there is that one sound they make that sounds comically like a human going “rawr”.
Yep. Back to charming.
I love bobcats.