Tahoe Bobcat!

In Tahoe we often see Bear and Coyote. But in 30 years, I've only seen a bobcat twice and both times it was at some distance.

Until this week.

I was looking out my window when a bobcat came up on our deck, walked in front of me, and then hunkered down next to our house.

It was twice the size of a house cat, about 20 inches tall and 30 inches long. It had a short little tail, 4 inches long, and held tucked in.

This guy sensed me on the other side of the window,
and turned just so for a portrait.

When I looked closely at the photo, it appeared that the bobcat's eyes had elliptical pupils. Because I'd always thought that the only cat species that had slit pupils were house cats, that sent me on a research mission. Several internet sources erroneously said what I'd previously thought, that all cat species bigger than house cats had round pupils.

But more research claimed otherwise. According to more detailed and authoritative sources, Bobcats, and their cousins the Lynx, do in fact have elliptical pupils, although apparently not quite the dramatically-narrow slits that house cats have. And when I spent some time on Google Images, I found multiple photos of bobcats with vertically-narrow pupils. Just to be sure, I verified that those cats had all the other characteristics of bobcats, stripes on the backs of the ears, pointed ear tufts, rear legs longer than forelegs, and the heavy fur on the lower sides of their faces that make them look a little like '50's beatniks with sideburns down onto their necks.

Check out those ear tufts!

What a treat.