backcountry_sassn
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2016
- Messages
- 247
Caught two of my prettiest bobcats of the season. For those who don't know the fur market, Southern California once had the nicest cats in the world, but now that markets been closed. Nevada was a close 2nd with Southern Nevada being the better half. Our cats don't get as big as the Northern Nevada Cats. A 36"-38" cat (measured from the nose to the base of the tail when put on the stretcher) is average, but they will sell for a higher average than the rest of the state. On this check I caught two toms, 44" and 40", and they were my best two bellies (the part of the cat that is most desired) with the 40" cat being the best belly. That makes 7 cats for this half of the line, and 9 cats (all males) for the entire line in a week.
That may sound like a lot of cats for one area, and it is, but surprisingly catches like this help the long term population of an area. Male bobcats are like teenage boys from the time they turn one, till the day the die. They have one thing on their mind. When a female is lactating, they don't go into their cycle. The toms know this, and will kill any kittens they find to try to get the female into cycle again. With this many toms in one area, the kitten population will be very low. By taking mature toms, you allow more kittens to survive, half of those being females.
Even with that knowledge, I am moving half of my line. Not because I feel like I'm hurting the populations, but because I've thinned out the males and know I'll start getting females. Also, with a thinned out population, my catch rate will dip so the best move will be to move my traps to a new group of cats.
Hope you enjoy this episode of Fur Addicts!
That may sound like a lot of cats for one area, and it is, but surprisingly catches like this help the long term population of an area. Male bobcats are like teenage boys from the time they turn one, till the day the die. They have one thing on their mind. When a female is lactating, they don't go into their cycle. The toms know this, and will kill any kittens they find to try to get the female into cycle again. With this many toms in one area, the kitten population will be very low. By taking mature toms, you allow more kittens to survive, half of those being females.
Even with that knowledge, I am moving half of my line. Not because I feel like I'm hurting the populations, but because I've thinned out the males and know I'll start getting females. Also, with a thinned out population, my catch rate will dip so the best move will be to move my traps to a new group of cats.
Hope you enjoy this episode of Fur Addicts!
