After splitting several decades between London and New York, the move to a desert home was about as big a change as a city boy could make. Although I spent much of my life in urban apartments I have always been an outdoors person and would take any excuse to go adventuring in the wilds.

One evening, a few months after relocating to the Sonoran Desert, and while I was still happily but judiciously adjusting to frequent meetings with snakes, lizards, hawks, tarantulas, coyotes, and javelina, I noticed a cat sitting under my neighbor’s palo verde tree. It was a spring evening, shortly before sunset and the cat thoughtfully sniffed the air, clearly enjoying the breeze and abundant dusk aromas.

As I wheeled my garbage can down the long driveway I looked back at my neighbor’s visitor and thought to myself: “That is a really big cat.” He stood up, stretched, and walked languorously across the yard, at which time I realized he was not an overgrown house cat but, in fact, a lynx. Lynx rufus, known as the Sonoran or Mexican lynx, and locally as a bobcat, is a lithe and elegant fellow, shaped a little like a cheetah with long, striped legs, but decorated with pointed ears and tufts under his cheeks. Fully grown, Lynx rufus might weigh 35 pounds, and grow to about the size of a collie or smallish German shepherd.

He and his pals have been back to visit my wild desert garden many times since then. Occasionally he’ll catch one of my doves for dinner, which is a little upsetting, but it is the natural way. If you’re lucky enough to meet a bobcat, give him a little space. Lynx rufus is an endangered species and receiving a visit from one is a special treat indeed.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 5th, 2009 at 9:45 am and is filed under Sonoran Wildlife. Tags for this post: big cats, bobcat, Lynx rufus, Mexican Lynx, Sonoran Desert, Sonoran Lynx, Tucson, wildlife. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.