On a summer day, in Bodega Bay, a Mama Bobcat took her Bob Kittens for a lesson in hunting.  There were several photographers in the area and she became nervous, so she decided to take the kittens back to their lair.  I initially had followed this action from a rooftop perch, but finally went to our back yard, to be able to get the ground level views.  With a very long zoom lens, I was able to capture these images from a longer distance and you can see that the Mamma Bobcat and her kittens are not concerned with my distant presence.

Mamma Bobcat originally had 4 kittens, which were born in the back yard of one of the nearby homes, under their backyard deck.  We don’t know if the two that disappeared were taken by birds of prey, coyotes, other predators or if they succumbed to disease. She was very attentive to the surviving two, however, and had started to teach them how to hunt for their own food. 

One of the two kittens was a male, who was larger, and the other, a small female.  We had often observed that the female was easily distracted, stopping to look at flowers, etc. while Mama Bobcat moved on.  Bobcats have excellent hearing, which extends into the ultrasonic range, and they can communicate with ultrasonic signals, as well.

As they escaped from the more aggressive photographers, the small female stopped to sniff or look at some flowering weeds while Mama and the male kitten moved on.  When Mama realized that the female was not with her, she turned around and signaled several times, but the female kitten was not able to follow, at that time. Finally, Mama Bobcat and the male kitten moved on, leaving her behind.

Though the video stops at that point in the drama, the small female bobcat was able to rejoin her family and I have many photos to record the growth of the two kittens, which will be shared in future postings