DesertRat71 Loc: Arizona

The dog and I were going to the mailbox after work the other day when I spotted this fellow crossing the street. We both (the mutt and I) just stared for a couple of seconds before I herded my 90 lb. Lab back into the house and made a dash for my camera. My luck held:
http://outrider.darrows.org/desertscenes/h26fd9897#h21ef01d5
http://outrider.darrows.org/desertscenes/h26fd9897#h26fd9897

Jack Digger Loc: Savannah, GA (orig. So. New England)

That was some fast thinking, and done in the correct order.
Very nice.

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

Thirsty kitty.

diensthunds

Talk about lucky it stuck around, you don't see many of those for very long, we have them around were I live and I've yet to see a live one in the wild and I've been traipsing the woods for a long time.

Terrymac Loc: LONDON U.K.

Hi, Can I ask what the animal is. Thanks.

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Looks like a bobcat to me.

Dennis

Terrymac Loc: LONDON U.K.

Thanks.

DesertRat71 Loc: Arizona

I'm still thanking my lucky stars :-)! Of course, living in Arizona one never knows what may be just outside the door. Sometimes it's a herd of Javelina, and sometimes you're awakened at 2 AM by the clamor of coyotes having just made a kill.

DesertRat71 Loc: Arizona

To me it looked like a Bobcat but some folks who saw the picture thought it was a Lynx or an Ocicat. So, just to be sure, I asked an expert at the Phoenix Zoo. Here is her response:

~~~~~

I received the email you sent to the zoo regarding the wonderful photo taken of a cat drinking from your neighbor's fountain. You were correct –it is in fact a bobcat which is one of our Arizona native wild cat species. Bobcats do get their names from that short 'bobbed' tail that you can see very well in the photo –they are designed for hunting small prey such as rabbits and other small mammals, but will sometimes catch birds and even some smaller reptiles. They are the most wide ranging of all the cat species in North America, and are generally around twice the size of a domestic cat. While lynx do share some of the same physical characteristics, they are a larger, more northerly species and would not naturally be found here in Arizona. The ocicat is a domestic breed of cat that has wildcat-like spot patterns but have no wild cat DNA. The coat pattern of an ocicat may look slightly similar to what you see on the bobcat, but as you can see the bobcat has a short tail, facial ruff on the side of its face, large feet, large ears…..a domestic cat would have a long tail (most breeds that is, especially the ocicat), small feet, no facial ruff, and small ears.

You are so lucky to be able to see such amazing wildlife so close to home! As we move farther into undeveloped area, some species are learning to adapt and live among us fairly well –the bobcat is one of those species. It looks like this cat was enjoying some of the fresh running water from the fountain on a hot day. Enjoy seeing one of our Arizona native species up close! How exciting and what a beautiful bobcat!

Rebecca Benham
Collection Manager of Carnivores
Phoenix Zoo

DesertRat71 Loc: Arizona

I should have added to my earlier response that I was also lucky that I was able to take the photos without a flash. The light was low and getting lower (you can see from recorded EXIF data that the time of the shot was 19:44).

I noticed through the viewfinder that even with the ISO at 800 on my Nikon D7100 I needed a shutter speed of a glacial 1/10 of a second for proper exposure. This worried me because the rule of thumb (as I know it) is anything slower than 1/30 of a second leaves you vulnerable to extensive blurring when shooting without a tripod. My Nikkor 18-300 lens has on-board VR and I leaned hard against the side of my vehicle to steady the camera (I was shooting from my garage). As it was, these are the best two of several shots. I could have cranked the ISO more or played with EV but there simply wasn't time.