Evidence of big cats mounts

This photo of a bobcat was taken in October in the area of Bailey Hill in Bishopville. Sightings of big cats and other predatory animals are becoming more and more common, according to Department of Environmental Conservation reports. THOMAS ROSELLI PHOTO

By Jason Jordan
The Spectator

Posted Nov. 9, 2015

ALMOND — There is photographic evidence that large predators, including multiple types of big cats, inhabit wooded areas of Steuben and Allegany counties.

Hornell resident Thomas Roselli knows everything about the land he hunts near the Klipnoky State Forest in the Almond/Bishopville/Canaseraga area and few things shock him, but he was surprised to see a bobcat in stalking pose on his trail camera.

The photo was taken towards the end of October from a tree stand about 100 yards from Roselli’s hunting cabin.

“It definitely was a bobcat because we got pictures of other ones,” Roselli said.

Roselli quickly posted the photo to Facebook for friends and family to see and it quickly gained popularity, receiving over 100 likes, 50 comments and was shared a total of 232 times.

“We’ve had so many instances with deer and turkey and others, that it’s just kind of another photo to us, but it is the best one we’ve gotten,” Roselli said.

The bobcat is very similar to the larger Canada Lynx, causing some debate over what the one photographed was.

“The lynx has a bushier tail, not like the one the bobcat has that is skinny and sticks out about 6 to 8 inches,” Roselli said.

In the 1970s, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) did an extensive study of the bobcat population that they continue to depend on today.

“There were three population centers: (1) Adirondack, (2) Catskill, and (3) Taconic regions. The Adirondack study area had about five bobcats for every 100 square miles of area, while the Catskill area had about 16 bobcats for every 100 square miles of area. Bobcats also occur occasionally in many areas of western New York (and probably breed there),” read the report.

Today, the DEC does more openly acknowledge bobcats in the area, establishing a hunting and trapping season for bobcats in our region, from Oct. 25 through Nov. 20 that covers the Southern Tier and has no limit on how many can be harvested.

However, Roselli said, he and his hunting friends think it’s cool to have bobcats around.

“A lot of us have small cats around, but we wouldn’t shoot one unless it was being a menace. Usually they won’t mess with you. If you see one they’re usually running away,” he said.

Prior to 1971 when a new law was enacted, New York state paid bounties to hunt bobcats.

Roselli is far from the only one having reported large cat sightings in the area. Over the years, there have reportedly been sightings of rare predators including cougars, fishers and lynx.

“Since 1987 we’ve probably seen four different types of big cats over that year span,” Roselli said. “Other guys hunting up there have gotten photos with their phones, but they weren’t very good.”

“One time, about 17 or 18 years ago, I went to turn around on Hoover Road and there was this long black one laying in the ditch, when I turned around it slithered back into the woods,” he recalled of another encounter.

In reaction to Roselli’s post, many commented on their past encounters with big cats in Almond, Hornell, South Hornell, Friendship and other places.

“We had one in the woods right behind my house two years go in Hornell,” one said.

Others expressed their concerns about having a sighting so close to home.

“I hope he doesn’t come to my house,” said another.

However, bobcats are thought to be very wary of humans and more likely to run away than engage.

“I think they avoid you as much as possible, when you see them they’re normally running away from you,” Roselli said, making a photo of one even harder to come by.

In addition to big cats, large black bear sightings have become more common. Over the summer, the DEC captured and tagged a Steuben County record-setting black bear in Wayland, weighing in at 560 pounds. While bears are not predatory by nature, they are large enough to be a threat to humans who cross paths with them.

The sometimes slow public acknowledgement of large predators, be it bobcats, lynx, cougars or large bear populations by the DEC, confuses many outdoorsmen like Roselli.

“I don’t know why they do what they do, but my personal feeling is, they’ve been coming into this area for a while now and they probably feel that if something happens to someone they don’t want to take responsibility for it,” Roselli said.

However, the DEC does provide a hotline for reporting sightings of bobcat, otter, fisher, and weasel in DEC Regions 3 through 9 — (607) 776-2165 extension 16 in Steuben or Livingston County and (716) 372-0645 in Cattaraugus County.

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