PLATTSBURGH — State wildlife staffers are collecting comments from the public as they develop a management plan for New York's bobcat population.

The Department of Environmental Conservation has created a draft management plan that officials hope will help to maintain viable bobcat populations, provide sustainable use and enjoyment of the wild cat by the public and minimize negative bobcat-human interactions in areas where the creatures are prevalent.

HUNTING BOBCATS

"The plan is really calling for an expansion of many areas where we would like to have a harvest of the species," said state wildlife biologist Paul Jensen of the Warrensburg DEC office.

"This will give us a better idea of bobcat distribution and enable us to improve our hunting and trapping seasons.

"We've been harvesting bobcats for many years," he added. "On all accounts, bobcats are relatively stable."

HABITAT PREFERENCES

The Champlain Valley and the Adirondacks do have bobcat populations, but the habitat within the Adirondack Park is not as attractive to the species as other areas of the state.

"They generally don't do well in areas with mature forests and deep snow," Jensen said. "They do really well in areas with mixed forest and farmlands, and they do even better when you mix in rocky outcrops, ledges and cliffs."

The Catskill mountains have a thriving population, as does the Taconic mountain ridge stretching between New York and Vermont in Washington, Columbia and Rensselaer counties, he noted.

HARD TO SPOT

Bobcats are solitary creatures and tend to avoid humans.

"I'm a hunter, and I've never seen one (in the wild)," Jensen said.

He noted that hunters most commonly see bobcats when they are stationary in a tree stand and a cat walks by beneath them.

A lot of information the state has gathered on bobcat populations comes from reports from bow hunters who have seen bobcats while hunting for deer, he added.

SMALL CATS

The bobcat is a small member of the cat family, weighing an average of 20 pounds, though Jensen did see one dead bobcat that weighed in at 44 pounds.

Males are about a third larger than females. A bobcat's length is between 30 and 34 inches with a tail between 4 and 5 inches.

Their fur, which is the major attraction for hunters and trappers, is dense, short and soft. It has a reddish hue in the summer and is more gray in the winter. Spotting occurs in some bobcats.

HUNTING RANGE

An individual male bobcat living in the Adirondacks will range 136 square miles in search of food. The female's range is 33 square miles. Home ranges are smaller in areas of good habitat.

Bobcats prey on a large variety of animals, ranging from mice to whitetail deer, a ability that has allowed them to survive in areas where their larger cousin the lynx has not done well.

"The fundamental difference between bobcats and lynx is that the bobcat is a generalist (with its diet), and the lynx is a specialist. Lynx rely almost exclusively on snowshoe hare for their diet."

DEC attempted a lynx-restoration project in the Adirondacks more than two decades ago, but those animals did not establish a population in the park, and there is no evidence that any lynx remain.

KITTENS

Bobcats breed between mid-January and early February, though some evidence has shown that breeding activities have continued into July.

Most litters are born in April and May. A litter can range from one to five kittens on average.

Email Jeff Meyers at: jmeyers@pressrepublican.com