He noted that the taxidermied bobcat in a case he brought with him was not one of the felines studied in his research but was a display used for educational purposes.
His appreciation for the felines was evident: “I’m not the guy to talk to if you want to get rid of bobcats.”
As carnivores, the animals have a necessary spot in the ecosystem, Ashley said, noting that their prey includes cottontail rabbits, squirrels and rats. The study took a look at the cats’ habits in and about their habitat in the 1,300-acre River Legacy Parks, which is located around former biosolids drying beds at the Village Creek wastewater treatment facility.
The study showed that the bobcats preferred heavily wooded areas, which they use as corridors. There is little down time for the animals, which are almost constantly on the move. Each animal’s territory consists of about 45 square miles and includes residential areas, Ashley said.
“There are a lot of caring, sensitive people in this area,” he said of the cats’ seemingly quiet co-existence with the neighborhoods. “There’s not much known about bobcats and not a lot of research, especially on urban bobcats. The bobcats appear as residential as raccoons.”
The study also found that the females tended to be solitary, with little overlap to their ranges. Males, however, moved across the females’ areas. The GPS data plotted the cats’ locations every 45 minutes over a five-week period, at which time an electronic signal was sent to the collars to drop off of the animals.
Ashley, who teaches online classes for Fort Worth Christian High School, says a university has approached him about conducting another study on the River Legacy Parks bobcats. This one also would involve GPS collars and the tracking of a larger number of the felines.
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