Bobcat found in Wellfleet: Believed to be first confirmed sighting on Outer Cape Cod

WELLFLEET — A dead bobcat, found on the Chequessett Neck Road dike, possibly struck by a vehicle, is likely "the furthest out (on) the Cape that a bobcat has been documented," according to an email from Dave Wattles, black bear and furbearer biologist for the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.

According to an email from Jacob Berrick, Wellfleet animal control officer, Wellfleet police received a call on Feb. 13 about what appeared to be a dead cat on the dike, which straddles the end of the Herring River as it enters Wellfleet Harbor. A police officer retrieved the animal and placed it in cold storage.

The next day, Berrick, in consultation with a regional director of Mass Audubon, determined that the animal was a bobcat.

"It is believed to be the first confirmed report of a bobcat in Wellfleet," wrote Berrick.

According to Berrick, the approximate age and the gender of the animal are currently undetermined. The deceased bobcat has been frozen to preserve it for further analysis and is slated to be transferred to U.S. Department of Agriculture biologists for testing.

Documented bobcat sightings are uncommon on Cape Cod. Before European colonization, it is believed they were found across Massachusetts, with the exception of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard.

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In 2013, officials confirmed a sighting in Falmouth that was believed to be the first documented bobcat on Cape Cod since Colonial times.

In a Feb. 3 story, the Cape Cod Times explored the presence of bobcats on the peninsula.

"Like many species they were nearly wiped out following European colonization due to habitat loss through the conversion of forest to farmland and because they were hunted and trapped as pests," wrote Wattles at the time. "Like many other species, farm abandonment and reforestation, regulation of hunting and trapping has led to their recovery."

Bobcats that make it to the peninsula likely cross the Cape Cod Canal bridges. According to Wattles, they are typically younger males that are more prone to travel out of their usual range.

It is unclear if there is a breeding population of bobcats on the Cape.

"If there is a breeding 'population' it is likely a single female or two given the limited number of sightings," said Wattles in the Feb. 3 Times story.

After the bobcat was found in Wellfleet, Wattles was asked if this development might indicate a larger population of bobcats on Cape Cod than previously thought.

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"No, it has nothing to do with population size," wrote Wattles, recalling the 2012 Cape Cod Bear episode, when a solitary animal made it all the way to Provincetown.

"Bobcats are territorial, one of the things that restricts their movements is when they bounce into territory boundaries," wrote Wattles. "With no bobcats on the Cape that animal can wander without ever hitting another territory, so it keeps going until it reaches Wellfleet. They can also wander more because they are looking for other bobcats."

Mark Faherty, science coordinator at the Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, expressed sorrow at the demise of the Wellfleet bobcat, but was intrigued that the animal had made it so far out on Cape Cod.

“As a lover of wildlife, it breaks my heart that our first bobcat was a road killed one, but the fact that one was walking the woods of Wellfleet at all is the cat’s meow,” he wrote in a text to the Cape Cod Times.

For Cape Cod nature lovers who may want to be on the lookout for bobcats, here is a description from the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife:

"The bobcat is a medium-sized feline, approximately twice the size of a domestic house cat. It can be easily identified by its short, 'bobbed' tail (up to 12 inches), prominent face ruff, and slightly tufted ears...adult bobcats weigh 15–35 pounds and measure 28–47 inches in length. Size varies depending on sex, as male bobcats are approximately 33% larger than their female counterparts."

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Bobcat found in Wellfleet: First confirmed sighting on Outer Cape Cod