July 13, 2019, Back Deck. Roberta was born about two years ago and we’ve been watching her grow since she was a kitten. She comes around every six weeks or so, patrols the yard, and moves on. Sometimes she looks inside and watches us. More often she gives the house a wide berth.
Last week she walked by about thirty feet away, heading for the steps on the deck. I grabbed the beast, confirmed that I was in spot-metering mode, opened the French door, and framed the shot. Once framed, I said, “kitty kitty kitty” and shot as she turned and gave me a look. The look said, “I am not a domestic cat. Don’t ‘kitty kitty kitty’ me.”
And with a twitch of the tail, she sauntered away.
How do I know she’s a she? I don’t, but everything I’ve read says that a two-year-old male bobcat would be larger than this one’s approximate fourteen-inch shoulder height. So, rightly or wrongly, it’s Roberta.
(Nikon D500, Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 ED VR zoom. RAW processing in DxO PhotoLab 2.3; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
AMAGA Photography Blog 
What a wonderful post.. I was so amazed that a bobcat visits your property! I don’t recall your situation, are you right by a wilderness area?
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Thank you. We’re in a fuzzy boundary between suburbia and the Santa Cruz mountains. We get bobcats frequently and coyotes far more often than we’d like.
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Ya – you can see this cat is NOT felix domesticus. I have visions of what it and my own house cat would do if they saw each other. Perish the thought! Beautiful photo.
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Thank you. I believe the word “yikes” would apply.
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I am sure that there is a bobcat or two around here, but I haven’t seen one yet. In the woods yes and once in our parking lot at work. This is a nice portrait and not one photographers get to make very often. Congratulations.
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Thank you very much. We tend to take these creatures for granted. These comments are reminding me that we shouldn’t. We are very lucky to have her in our midst.
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Wow, how amazing and wonderful to live so close to the wild.
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We are indeed fortunate. And we are a very short drive from even more wild. There are mountain lions in the hills. My wife has seen one, but I have not.
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What a beautiful creature, and an excellent portrait.
I’ve seen one in the wild exactly…once!
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Thank you very much, Robert. As I have said to the others, this is a reminder of how fortunate we are. Although I could do without the coyotes prowling the neighborhood and waking us up with their cries at 5:30 in the morning.
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Roberta is truly beautiful. And so is your picture.
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Thank you very much! We’re lucky to have her around.
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I agree. I am not sure I wish we had a predator as a regular visitor with Bentley out there but we do stay with him to be on the safe side. Just the same, I wouldn’t want to have to fight off a hungry cat or coyote. Once in a while would be nice.
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We always kept our dog inside except if we were out with him. That said, he managed to tree a bobcat on three separate occasions. I’m very glad he was the chaser and not the chasee.
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Our dogs, all beagles, have treed a few squirrels but I think that’s a large as would be intimidated (well, rabbits but they can’t climb). Anything bigger would present a problem. Thus they are always accompanied. We’ve also had a few bears at our bird feeders. We now stop feeding the birds once hibernation is over and don’t start until it has begun in December.
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Wise. Bobcats are bigger than beagles. Bears are much bigger than bagels.
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Bears are much bigger than us bagel eaters too.
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I dictated to Siri and did not proofread. Siri once corrected bucket list to something else. Fortunately it was met with hilarity on the other end.
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The funny part of Siri’s misinterpretation is that we often call our dogs “bagels”. It’s more than a near homonym based on their eating habits.
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In my family we called beagles “bugles.”
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That too. We have a bow window on the front of the house and when we meet a new neighbor we introduce ourselves as the house with the bugle.
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That too.
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che splendore! grazie!
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Grazie!
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What a fine portrait of a creature that tends to be elusive here. I find prints from time to time, but have yet to see the bobcat itself. The closest I’ve come probably was the day I found prints in sandy soil that hadn’t yet begun to dry. I suspect the cat saw me that day.
Roberta, and your mention of the mountain lions, reminded me of this song, which I suspect you know.
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Thank you very much. She certainly is beautiful, despite her disapproving expression. Thank you for the link. First time I’ve heard that in many many years. Coincidently, I had “Tom Dooley,” from the same era, as an earworm last weekend.
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I just learned that the bob in bobcat is short for bobtail. In your case, it could be short for Roberta.
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That’s correct. The diminutive for Roberta would be something more like Bobbie. But she’s regal, so she’s Roberta.
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They are so elusive Michael, that’s an amazing catch. They’re fairly acclimated to people on Kiawah but would definitely not stop for a shot!!
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You have to just say, “kitty kitty kitty.” Curiosity may not kill these cats but it tends to make them turn around.
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It’s a privilege to exchange glances with a furry wild creature like this – thanks for sharing!
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To me, there is a definite explicit communication that takes place. It’s beyond thrilling.
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Such sweet face…spirit of the bobcat…always a gift ☺️🤓
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She is a beauty. Not cuddly, however.
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She is beautiful … yep you got that look! 🙂
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It was definitely a look. She was a bit annoyed with me.
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Beautiful ‘kitty’. I’ve never seen a bobcat in the wild.
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We are fortunate.
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