Being a Bobcat Researcher

The first thing you should know about being a bobcat researcher is that ANYONE can be a bobcat researcher. 

Me mixing the plaster at the track site

I had said previously that I'd make a blog about what I was researching at my new job. Well, here it is! I am studying bobcats (Lynx rufus)! I am very interested in carnivores and here in Illinois my favorite is the bobcat. I have designed a camera trap system with a baited log with tuna or chickento try and lure them in to get pictures of the sneaky cats. After I get some pictures, I will continue to monitor them via camera but also how they use the habitat during different seasons with it being a pocket in the middle of farm land. I am definitely learning as I go. 

Me setting up the trail camera at the bait log

So far no luck on the trail camera but I am going to make an active lure of feathers to try and draw them in with movement- these are cats after all and they like that sort of thing. I have only been doing this for a week now as of today. Yesterday was my best break through so far, and this is a good sign since it was so early on in the research. I was walking along the creek and saw lots of tracks of various animals...and a track line of a bobcat. I immediately went to Walmart which is about 7 minutes away from my work and bought some plaster of paris, some plaster trowels and a few measurement containers to mix it in. Luckily, I didn't need to bring water because we were right there on the creekside where the tracks were. 

Walking down to the track site

I called my friend, Emma, who lives near by for some assistance with taking pictures and flagging tracks for me while I made and poured the plaster. We started at 6pm and got done at 7:44pm with some very good results of the track casts. 

Me holding some finished bobcat tracks

I think I will be moving the camera to around this location in the near future. I am so so happy I get to do something like this for a job. It really doesn't feel like work at all it is so much fun and what I want to do for the rest of my life. This is the best opportunity ever and I can't believe how much progress I have made in a week!

Me looking at a mussel shell in the soil strata at the track site

God is so good to give me these amazing opportunities, the people who support me and resources I have to do what I love. My Bible verse is, "You bring darkness, and it becomes night, when all the forest animals stir. The young lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God. The sun rises; they go back and lie down in their dens. Man goes out to his work and to his labor until evening. How countless are Your works, Lord! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures." -Psalms 104: 20-24

💜 Nichole