About
One goal of the Connecticut Bobcat Project is to describe bobcat movements and habitat use within neighborhoods with different housing densities.
Bobcats are habitat generalists because they live in forests, deserts, prairies, and wetlands. A bobcat territory often encompasses many habitat types. Yet within a territory, bobcat become more selective, moving among specific patches of habitats. DEEP Wildlife Division and UCONN began studying bobcats in 2017, a partnership to better understand how bobcats live within neighborhoods. During phase 1, DEEP Wildlife Division completed two years of data collection, which included fitting GPS collars on bobcats state-wide. During phase 2, DEEP Wildlife Division plans to fit bobcats with GPS collars within a focal study area. |
Over 100 bobcats have been fitted with GPS collarsWith the help of the trapping community and willing landowners, GPS collars were attached to bobcats throughout the entire state of Connecticut in 2018 and 2019. Collars collected a GPS point every 4 hours for about one year and then all collars detached from the bobcats.
The last collar was recovered in early March 2020, and thus the analysis phase of the project is current underway. |
Upcoming Data Collection...
We are planning for an additional year of GPS collaring bobcats that will be focused on the Farmington Valley area of Connecticut.
Our goal is to collar all the bobcats that within this area so that we can learn how rivers, topography, and urban development affect bobcats movements. Will these features funnel bobcat movement through specific backyards or urban parks? How much do these solitary animals interact with eachother? Will bobcats interact with other bobcats more in suburban neighborhoods where green space is limited? Collaring bobcats will begin late summer of 2021 and continue through fall and winter.
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Sightings of Collared Bobcats Reported By You
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