KENT—Bobcats among us. Who would have thought that?
The Kent Memorial Library will present a special program on bobcats in Connecticut at its annual meeting Saturday, Jan. 18, at 2 p.m. at Town Hall.
Ginny Apple, a Department Energy and Environmental Protection Master Wildlife Conservationist, will share information about the natural history of this most elusive creature. She will describe the Connecticut Bobcat Project and what biologists have learned from data collected over two years from placing wildlife cameras throughout our state.
The DEEP fitted special GPS collars on the study animals to track their movement. The collars were designed to drop off automatically after 300 days, and the team is gathering the dropped equipment.
Reforestation of the state and a lack of natural predators has fueled the resurgence in the bobcat population. According to the DEEP, in 1825 only a quarter of Connecticut was forested as a result of agricultural and industrial activity and the bobcat was virtually extirpated. Today, nearly 60-percent of Connecticut is carpeted with trees. A plentiful food supply of small mammals has also helped the animals to rebound.
Legally protected from hunting and trapping since 1972, DEEP now estimates that statewide the bobcat population has grown to almost 1,500 animals living in all eight counties. The population has spread out of the Northwest Corner over the past five to 10 years. There have now been sightings in every single town, including cities. One female bobcat has been documented as living in downtown Hartford, steps away from Saint Francis Hospital’s emergency room entrance.
She and her kittens occasionally venture into parts of Bloomfield and West Hartford before returning to Hartford.
A brief annual meeting will be held before the program.
Register for the program by clicking here.
