Males do not participate in raising the young. At about four weeks of age, kittens begin to leave the den and take solid food provided by the female. Juvenile bobcats leave the female's territory before she gives birth to a litter the following year. Bobcats are most active just after dusk and before dawn. They are secretive, solitary and seldom observed, tending to hunt and travel in areas of thick cover.
Bobcats rely on their keen eyesight and hearing for locating enemies and prey.
They are very patient and ambush their prey. Their sense of smell is not acute. Bobcats specialize on medium-sized prey such as rabbits and hares. Although white-tailed deer is reported in diets of bobcats in the Northeast, there is evidence that bobcats probably kill very few deer unless other foods become scarce. When bobcats do take deer, they are most likely to kill sick, injured, young or very old animals.