Uh yeah. That's not good. It's unfortunate that we must harm, occasionally, to establish our territory - or it'll become their territory. And that bobcat being so young would well establish your territory for itself and many others. Fortunately, just one sends a clear message to all of the locals for years.

Be safe, girl!

I bet that was a shocker. I imagine he was beautiful. But your right I think he may have his sights set on your chickens for an easygoing meal, to bad.

There are too many cats at your house.

lol, It it's not one thing, it is another. I blame the Red River bottomlands for our excessive wildlife this year. If they hadn't flooded, most of the wild kitties still would be down in the bottom lands feeding on things there instead of coming up here looking for a free chicken dinner. At least this was a small kitty, relatively speaking.

Have your husband pee around the perimeter of your chicken lot and your garden. Have him do it every 2-3 days. If he's anything like most men I know, he'll be tickled pink that he gets to go pee outside and *actually* mark his territory. It may even raise his testosterone and his attraction to you ;) unless you're the husband in which case. Go out there and enjoy peeing outside (with permission).

Especially if your husband is a big meat eater, it should deter the young cat. But I'm wondering with a cat so young, if mom is close by teaching it how to hunt oror if it's orphaned and looking for a good meal.

Our chickens scream "CAT" when there's a cat in the yard and then all the ducks and chickens all run like a stampeding herd or wildebeest protecting their young to chase the cat off. It's actually really funny if you ever get to catch it.

My husband probably would enjoy that in cooler weather, but he works mostly nights and sleeps during the day, so I doubt he'd want to go outside in the heat of the day to pee after he awakens.

We have tons and tons of wildlife here, and a little human urine doesn't really deter them. On any given night in our yard, you're likely to see any or all of the following: coyotes, bobcats, coons, possums, squirrels, armadillos, white-tailed deer, cottontail rabbits, venomous and non-venomous snakes, skunks, and all the usual frogs and lizards and such. Occasionally you'll see a ferret, weasel, beaver, ring-tailed cat or, on very rare occasions a feral hog or a cougar. Every now and then we see a fox, but not as often as we see all the other wild things. We are in a very wild area with tons of river bottom lands, Wildlife Mgmt land within a couple of miles, etc., and the wild animals do prowl around at various parts of the day or night looking for food. Considering how much wildlife we have, it doesn't give us as much trouble as you'd think.

My brother once had a chicken that screamed "Help", as plain as day, whenever a bobcat or hawk was lurking. It was our rooster yelling his head off, sounding the alert, that led me to open the door and see the bobcat. Since then, he's kept the chickens free-ranging more in the side (south) and back (west) yards instead of in the east-facing front yard or the side yard on the north side of the house, which is the woodland into which the bobcat disappeared when it saw me. I suspect Mr. Rooster knows exactly where the bobcat is when it is around as he's pretty wily old fellow who has brought his flock safely through many wild animal encounters over the years.

In general we try to get along with all the wild things, but a young bobcat headed for the front porch steps in late afternoon while chickens free-range isn't welcome. I tend to just try to chase them off so that my husband or son won't feel compelled to shoot them. Any animal that is preying on our animals will be shot sooner or later. Usually the guys fire a warning shot into the ground near it to chase it off the first time they see it, but if it keeps coming back, they'll shoot it. We've had wild animals wipe out our entire flock some years even though we have a seemingly predator-proof coop (well, it is predator-proof now, but it wasn't back in the early years here even though we thought it was).

It may have had its mom lurking around. It was too well-fed to have been on its own for very long because it still was awfully young to have stayed that fat on limited hunting skills if it didn't have its mom around. I like seeing them around as long as they aren't after my kittens or chickens. I wasn't happy to have it inside the garden, which has a 8'-tall fence and a sturdy gate that wildlife cannot get through. Our youngest cat, who is just about a year old now, hangs out in the garden a lot, and he might still be small enough that a bobcat could take him out.....but it would have to be a bigger bobcat than the one I saw.

Dawn

And boy-howdy bobcats are fast.

I was just suggesting you ark your territory the sender way other large carnivores do. With unneutered male urine. Kind of like how tigers and leopards avoid each other in the jungles of Asia!

Some people collect their pee for composting...just saying that's an option.

Or buy unneutered wolf urine. Or was it coyote urine? I'm pretty sure it's wolf urine lol.

But I digress. Husband pee is much cheaper and easier to procure. And no one else has to know about it. Except us. If you decide to tell us. You don't have to tell us everything you do. Lol

Bee-tee-dub-yew: I love talking about chickens...even if it is about predator managent.

I'm in the OKLAHOMA FORUM how did I get here?

Did you think you were someplace else?

Your zone says Oklahoma...no?

That's just really cool....I'm not only new to houzz, but GW in general. Sorry.

Welcome to one of the most active local gardening groups on the site, laticauda. Nice to meetcha.

bon

Welcome, laticauda. I was worried you were lost and hadn't intended to be on the Oklahoma Forum. We have a lot of fun here, and nobody, but nobody, understands gardening in our crazy climate better than other Oklahoma gardeners. We help keep each other sane. Or, at least, mostly sane. It is too hot to actually do much gardening outdoors right now so mostly we just talk about it, but when the weather cools off a little, we'll be back outside more, playing in the dirt.

Dawn

I got a few really nice tomatoes to ripen before the heat came in. My peppers and eggplants are going crazy though!

Thanks for the welcome!

Welcome, you will like it here

It's been a few years since I have seen a bobcat on our property. I share your combination of awe and dread for larger predators.

Scott, I love seeing the bobcats and, and the foxes especially because they are so shy they don't show themselves often. I enjoy seeing the ringtailed cats, but sightings of them are very rare (and usually only occur when I see them trying to get into the chicken coop). I just don't want them in the garden with me, or in the yard with the kitty cats are playing and the chickens are free-ranging.

It has been years since I've seen or heard a big cat, and I am so relieved to be able to report that. The last sighting of one near us was two years ago this August, but I didn't see that one myself. If ever there was a year I might have expected them it was after the Red River flooded three times this year, and it hasn't happened, so I am fairly comfortable believing there currently are not any of those suckers in our part of the county down here along the river.

I enjoy living surrounded by wildlife, but don't want too much of some kinds to be too close. Our little bunny rabbit population is dropping weekly now, so undoubtedly the coyotes are getting them.

Dawn

I have not heard our cougar in years. I do miss that scream, it kept you on your toes. HA !!! I heard a quail the other evening. I have not heard "bob white" called out in a long time. Our bunnies are doing fine, I see them in the evenings when I'm feeding the donkeys. The coyotes are prospering as well, I hear them and see them all the time. The roadrunner is still around. I was afraid the flooding would get him.

Personally I don't miss the Cougars. It not only kept me one toes but also kept the hair standing up on the nape of my neck. Honestly, though, I'd rather hear one than see one. I haven't hear bobwhites since May. Our woods are too overgrown for the coyotes to come through so I am only hearing them now from far off, but something is eating the bunnies. I saw a roadrunner yesterday. I won't say we see them every day, but we do see them at least 5 days a week.

interloping to say: fascinating, especially about the chicken behavior. We have critters (including bobcats) in my area, but not to that extent. I'm too much of a city girl to be comfortable with all those critters anyway