Behavioral ecology of the bobcat in a region with deep winter snows.

The bobcat (Lynx rufus) is a native North American felid that is an economically valuable furbearer. This mesocarnivore is an important species in ecosystem structuring, exerting top-down control on rodent populations. Bobcats in northern latitudes face seasonal challenges such as deep snows, cold, and food scarcity. I used laboratory, modeling, and field methods to investigate bobcat ecology in a northern peripheral population where I evaluated, (1) winter diet, (2) modeled energetics and determined overwinter prey requirements, (3) determined home range size and habitat selection, and (4) determined seasonal movement distances and shape of movements in relation to habitat. Bobcats consumed 5 major prey groups: deer (Odocoileus spp.), snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus), red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), Cricetidae (rodents), and Tetraoninae (grouse). Squirrels accounted for 54% of biomass consumed, followed by Cricetidae (24.5%), hares (12.2%), deer (8.5%), and grouse (