A West Hartford resident recently spotted this bobcat strolling through a yard.

Courtesy photo

By Ronni Newton

This bobcat was seen several days ago by West Hartford resident Ellen Brassil. She said it was strolling through a West Hartford yard on Sunrise Hill Drive, just around the corner from Cherryfield Drive, in the neighborhood near Duffy Elementary School.

According to the Connecticut DEEP, bobcats “can be found in hardwood (deciduous) forests and mixed hardwood-softwood (coniferous) forests. They have a preference for brushy lowlands and swamps, as well as brushy and rocky woodlands broken by fields, old roads, and farmland. They tend not to prefer mature forest but do flourish in areas with a thick understory.”

Their diet includes “cottontail rabbits, woodchucks, squirrels, chipmunks, mice, voles, snowshoe hares, white-tailed deer, birds, and, to a much lesser extent, insects and reptiles. Deer that are taken by bobcats are most likely sick, injured, young, or very old. Bobcats also prey on domestic animals, such as poultry, small pigs, sheep, and goats.”

According to the DEEP, bobcats rarely bother humans and attacks on humans are rare, but may in some cases may kill livestock such as chickens, and also may occasionally attack cats.

Report any bobcat sightings can be reported to the DEEP Wildlife Division at [email protected] or by calling 860-424-3011.

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