North American look-alikes
Bobcat vs Canada Lynx
They belong to the same genus, share a continent and overlap along a wide band of the northern United States, where telling them apart takes attention to feet, tails and ears.
At a glance
- The bobcat and the canada lynx fall into a similar body-mass band.
- Both species use temperate forest and montane forest.
- Their ranges both include North America.
- Both are currently listed as Least Concern on the Red List.
Field marks that hold up
Paws are the most reliable difference. A Canada lynx has enormous, densely furred feet that work as snowshoes; a bobcat's are much smaller relative to its body. The lynx also has longer ear tufts, a fuller facial ruff, longer hind legs and a tail tipped entirely in black, while the bobcat's tail is black on top and white underneath.
Coat pattern helps too. Bobcats are usually spotted, sometimes heavily, especially on the legs. Lynx are more uniformly grey-brown with indistinct markings.
One specialist and one generalist
The Canada lynx is tied to snowshoe hares, and its population rises and falls with the hare cycle. The bobcat eats rabbits, rodents, birds, reptiles and, in northern winters, deer, and it occupies desert, swamp, forest and suburb.
That difference explains why the two respond so differently to change. Bobcats have expanded and recolonised parts of the Midwest; lynx in the contiguous United States occupy a shrinking band of deep-snow forest and are federally protected there.
Where snow decides the boundary
Deep, persistent snow is the lynx's competitive advantage. Where snow cover thins, bobcats move north and lynx retreat, which makes the boundary between the two species one of the clearest examples of a climate-sensitive range edge in North American mammals.
What to take away
- Foot size, ear tufts and tail tip separate the two species in the field.
- The lynx depends on snowshoe hares; the bobcat eats almost anything.
- Snow depth largely determines which species occupies a given forest.
Identification
How each species is named and classified.
Bobcat
Lynx rufus
Canada Lynx
Lynx canadensis
Bobcat
Lynx
Canada Lynx
Lynx
Bobcat
Lynx lineage
Canada Lynx
Lynx lineage
Bobcat
Medium-sized cats
Canada Lynx
Medium-sized cats
Bobcat
Bay lynx, Wildcat
Canada Lynx
North American lynx
Body and movement
Published field measurements for adults. Ranges cover both sexes unless noted.
Bobcat
19 in – 4 ft 1 in (47–125 cm)
Canada Lynx
2 ft 6 in – 3 ft 6 in (76–107 cm) Longer
Bobcat
4 in – 8 in (9–20 cm) Longer
Canada Lynx
2 in – 5 in (5–13 cm)
Bobcat
12 in – 24 in (30–60 cm)
Canada Lynx
19 in – 22 in (48–56 cm) Taller
Bobcat
8.8–40 lb (4–18 kg)
Typical males 7–14 kg; northern animals are consistently larger than southern ones.
Canada Lynx
11–37 lb (5–17 kg)
Most adults weigh 8–11 kg; males average about a quarter heavier than females.
Bobcat
30 mph (48 km/h)
Short bursts; bobcats are stalkers rather than pursuers.
Canada Lynx
Not reliably measured
Not reliably measured; the species relies on ambush in deep snow rather than speed.
Life span
Typical adult longevity. Figures for managed care come from zoo and sanctuary records.
Bobcat
7–12 years
Canada Lynx
10–14 years Longer
Bobcat
20–25 years Longer
Canada Lynx
16–20 years
Habitat and range
Where each species lives and the conditions it tolerates.
Bobcat
temperate forest, semi-arid scrub, desert, wetland, agricultural mosaic, montane forest
Almost anything with cover: chaparral, hardwood and conifer forest, swamp, desert canyon, sagebrush and the wooded margins of towns and cities.
Canada Lynx
boreal forest, temperate forest, montane forest
Dense spruce and fir forest with thick understorey that supports hares, plus deep, persistent winter snow that gives the lynx its competitive advantage.
Bobcat
North America
From southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to central Mexico, with the highest densities in the south-east and south-west.
Canada Lynx
North America
Across Canada and Alaska, extending south into the northern Rockies, the Great Lakes states, northern New England and Washington State.
Diet and behaviour
Feeding ecology, social organisation and hunting technique.
Bobcat
hares, small mammals, birds, reptiles, medium ungulates
Cottontail rabbits and rodents form the core; bobcats also take birds, lizards and, in northern winters, deer weakened by snow.
Canada Lynx
hares, small mammals, birds
Snowshoe hare dominates and can exceed three-quarters of the diet; red squirrels, grouse, voles and carrion fill the gap during hare lows.
Bobcat
Solitary and territorial
Males hold ranges overlapping several females, marking with scrapes, urine and faeces at trail junctions.
Canada Lynx
Solitary
Adults maintain separate ranges that expand dramatically when hare numbers crash, when animals may disperse hundreds of miles.
Bobcat
Crepuscular
Activity peaks around dawn and dusk, extending into the night near human settlement.
Canada Lynx
Nocturnal and crepuscular
Hunting concentrates at night and around dusk, matching the activity of snowshoe hares.
Bobcat
Stalk and pounce
A bobcat freezes, creeps to within a few feet, then covers the last distance in one or two bounds.
Canada Lynx
Ambush along hare runways
The lynx waits beside well-used trails in dense cover, or makes a short stalk followed by a rush of a few bounds.
Bobcat
Strong
Climbs easily, resting on branches and using trees to escape dogs and coyotes.
Canada Lynx
Strong
Climbs readily to rest and to escape larger carnivores, though it hunts on the ground.
Bobcat
Capable
Will swim across streams and swamp channels, notably in the south-eastern United States.
Canada Lynx
Capable
Swims across lakes and rivers during dispersal.
Conservation
Red List category, population direction and the pressures documented for each species.
Bobcat
LC — Least Concern
Assessed 2016
Canada Lynx
LC — Least Concern
Assessed 2016
Bobcat
Stable
Canada Lynx
Stable
Bobcat
Vehicle collisions, Anticoagulant rodenticide exposure, Habitat fragmentation near cities, Regulated and illegal harvest pressure, Disease in isolated urban populations
Numbers are healthy across most of the range and the species has recolonised parts of the Midwest. Local concerns include rodenticide exposure in urban populations and mange outbreaks.
Canada Lynx
Loss of boreal forest connectivity, Shorter and shallower snow seasons, Competition from bobcats moving north, Incidental trapping, Road development
Secure across the boreal core of its range. Southern populations in the contiguous United States are far more fragile and are federally protected there.
Notable traits
Details that do not fit neatly into a measurement table.
Bobcat
- It is the most numerous wild cat in North America and the one most often photographed by home security cameras.
- Coat pattern varies from heavily spotted in the south-west to almost plain in northern forests.
- Urban bobcats in southern California have been studied for years as an indicator of how carnivores cope with fragmented landscapes.
Canada Lynx
- Paw loading — body weight divided by foot area — is among the lowest of any cat, which is what allows travel on soft snow.
- The population cycle of lynx and snowshoe hare is one of the classic examples of predator-prey dynamics in ecology.
- Ear tufts are thought to improve hearing sensitivity as well as serving as visual signals.
Sources used for this comparison
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Global assessment categories, population trends and documented threats.
- IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group Species accounts, distribution notes and Cat News reporting for every wild felid.
- U.S. National Park Service Long-running monitoring of North American carnivores inside protected areas.
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Federal listing status and recovery planning for cats occurring in the United States.
- Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Reviewed species accounts with morphometric ranges and reproductive data.