The bobcat ranks as North America's most common wildcat, ranging from southern Canada to Mexico. It can live in deserts, forests, mountains, and swamps. Though more tolerant of people than many other wildcats, bobcats tend to avoid large cultivated areas. Females are more territorial than males. Both sexes mark their territory with urine or other body wastes and secretions.
Bobcats are active at twilight and through the night.
Their diet consists primarily of rabbits, but they also eat birds, rodents, and occasionally young deer. Bobcats mate in late winter or early spring. Females make dens under logs, in thickets, or in hollow trees. They normally give birth to 2 to 3 kittens at a time. The young remain with their mother 9 to 12 months before becoming independent.