Bobcats on Delmarva? Expert says it's possible, but not confirmed
Rose VelazquezA possible bobcat sighting near Willards has captured social media attention on Delmarva recently.
It was posted to the Wicomico First Alert Facebook page and has garnered more than 1,600 shares and countless comments, sparking the interest not only of the Shore community, but also a professor who works on mammal conservation.
Maryland Department of Natural Resources spokesman Gregg Bortz said in an email that the agency had not received any recent reports of bobcats on the shore, but they do come in occasionally.
Bobcats are medium-sized wild cats with a distinct “bobbed” tail, according to the DNR website. They have wide faces with tufts of black fur on their ears in addition to spotted stomachs. Bobcat fur is a tawny color and contains patterns of stripes and spots.
The animals are more common in other parts of the state, he said, but it's possible that one could be spotted on the shore.
Aaron Hogue, an assistant professor of biology at Salisbury University who works with mammals and particularly mammal conservation, participated in field work several years ago intended to assess the status of mammalian carnivore populations throughout the Delmarva Peninsula.
They collected data and combined that information with historical research documenting black bears', cougars', bobcats' and wolves' presence in the region. Hogue said they found that a large portion of the peninsula's large carnivores are now gone.
While doing that work, he said he heard from several people who claimed to have seen bobcats in the area through the years. One forester mentioned seeing them in the 1980s in what is now the Pocomoke State Forest.
"Based on his description, I just felt fairly confident that he had actually seen them," Hogue said. "That’s really the most recent solid evidence I have of bobcats."
Bobats are rare throughout the state, Hogue said, and are already considered by the state as a species in need of conservation.
If it is possible to document a large carnivore, such as bobcats, persisting on Delmarva, Hogue said he'd like to see state, nonprofit and other interested agencies step in to secure that species and ensure that it thrives.
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Hogue said he spent a lot of time in the Pocomoke State Forest while conducting the field work as he felt it was the most likely place where a bobcat population could still exist.
Part of the field work involved setting up trail cams throughout the peninsula that would capture animals' movement. At multiple camera sites, he said bobcat urine was used with the intention of specifically attracting them, but none were ever documented on those cameras.
The work was published in a paper in 2015, and at that time, he said he wasn't confident there were any bobcats still in the region. However, the possible recent sighting is a promising sign for him.
"When I saw that picture and the alleged sighting, that was very encouraging," Hogue said.
He said he's been in contact with the individual who took the photo and is still unable to say with certainty that it was a legitimate bobcat sighting.
However, Hogue said that with research showing that top carnivores are an important element of healthy ecosystems, being able to confirm a bobcat population on Delmarva could be an important opportunity.
"One of the unfortunate things on Delmarva, and it’s a common phenomenon throughout the east, but especially on Delmarva, we’ve wiped out basically an entire component of local ecosystems, and that is top carnivores," he said.
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