January 4, 2026: New Year's Visitors

Happy New Year!  

We had the pleasure of our first visitors of 2026 when the bobcat family stopped by on New Year's Day.

Mother bobcat and one of her two kits.

Mom and her two kits came looking to find a meal under the bird feeders.  We first saw mom near the feeders, but at that point all the targets of her hunt had fled, including the half dozen gray squirrels that had been there a moment before.  There isn't a lot of cover around the feeders, so it's hard to ambush prey; only once have we seen a bobcat catch a squirrel, and it was a very impressive feat.  So mom left emptyhanded, and headed back up through the woods.  

An unsuccessful hunting attempt.

When she reached the path, her two kits came trotting right up to her to see if she was bringing them lunch.  

Three little bob tails stick out from behind a tree.

Apparently she had instructed them to wait patiently hidden away while she went on her hunting mission.  They were of course disappointed, but they snuggled up and told her they understand.

It's ok mom, you'll get 'em next time.

Both kits looked strong and healthy, though one was noticeably smaller than the other, and he/she kept close to its mother.

The smaller of the two kits.

The larger kit was braver and more independent, venturing off on its own ahead of the others.

The larger kit.  Look at the size of the hind paws!

It was a great way to start the new year!  

There won't be any tracking opportunities to see what the bobcats or anyone else is doing until we get more snow because the ice storm this week created a bulletproof snowpack. 

Ice coats the trees.

Whether the ice-coated landscape is beautiful or not depends on perspective.  If you were one of the 10,000 Lakes Region customers who lost power, it was, understandably, not pretty to have everything coated with a quarter inch of ice.

But if you were safe and warm and able to get out the next day when the sun came out, there were some picturesque sights to see.  

Mother nature provides an endless array of wonders.  What new marvels will 2026 bring us?