How many bobcats do you see in this Wisconsin photo? Don’t miss the sneaky one
Bobcats are skilled stalkers and a photo taken in Wisconsin is providing frightening proof.
The image was posted Dec. 4 on Facebook with a challenge.
“There are two bobcats in this snapshot from Lincoln County! Can you find both?” the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources asked.
“Bobcats are crafty hunters, and with small prey, they will wait motionless and then pounce.”
What followed is a social media debate that has so far gotten more than 4,000 reactions and 600 comments as of Dec. 9. This includes some people who easily found the cats, and others who admitted seeing only the most obvious of the two.
“I have searched and searched,” Cheryl Vance wrote.
“I did not see them. They would drag me away to their lair,” Maureen Ricksgers wrote.
“Bobcats are masters of disguise and can hide in wide-open terrain, as this one is,” Dave Demeny said.
So where are they in the photo?
One is clearly seen standing atop a frozen stream at the center of the photo. It’s the other that threw most people off. To see it, you have to look in a tree.
“Jeesh, I never even looked up!” Kimberly Durland wrote.
“Tricky!” Scott Altenhofen posted.
Bobcats are a “medium sized member” of the nation’s family of wild cats, with a weight somewhere between 12 and 40 pounds, experts say.
They are both “solitary and territorial,” and generally go unseen by humans, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says. The bobcat population is considered on the rebound in Wisconsin, but state biologists do not have population estimates.
“Bobcats are excellent hunters, stalking prey with stealth and patience, then capturing their meals with one great leap,” USFWS reports.
Because they are so territorial — and it’s not breeding season — state experts suspect the two bobcats in the photo are related, perhaps “it’s an adult with its young.”
This story was originally published December 9, 2021 at 11:01 AM with the headline "How many bobcats do you see in this Wisconsin photo? Don’t miss the sneaky one."