It's well known that Ohio is getting wilder. Now a report from the Ohio Department Natural Resources (DNR) makes it offiicial for bobcats. In 2013, there were 200 verified sightings of bobcats in Ohio, the highest in years. In July 2014 they were taken off the Ohio Endangered and Threatened Species List, although they are still protected from hunting.
The report shows 1 to 10 verified sightings in Knox County from 1970 to 2013 and 1 to 25 unverified sightings.
I've personally heard of bobcat sightings in Apple Valley, including near our home near the Clubhouse area, but those are just word-of-mouth reports, definitely unverified. The only one I've seen was in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia in the early 1980s.
Of the 200 verified reports for 2013, 32 were in Noble County and 106 within a one-county radius of Noble, including Muskingum County.
The report, "Summary of 2013 Bobcat Observations in Ohio", published July 17, 2014, says that historically most of the verified reports come from roadkill, but trail camera sightings have increased dramatically. In 2008 they became the main source of verified reports, which can make the sightings seem more numerous simply because trail cameras are cheaper and more widely used.
The report can be viewed here.
Or you can subscribe to a free monthly DNR e-mail newsletter, "Wild Ohio e-News", The August 2014 edition has a link to the report,.
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