Very Rare, Very Large Cat Spotted in Vermont's Rutland County, First Canada Lynx Seen Since 2018

Photo byFederico Di Dio photographyonUnsplash

Just passing through, or looking to settle in?

Vermont got a special visitor from our neighbors in the Great White North. According to the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department, for a first time since 2018, a Canada lynx was seen in the state.

This lynx (Lynx canadensis) isn't often seen in Vermont, the southernmost edge of its territory. This beefy feline is also listed as endangered in the state and are federally threatened.

“That makes any verifiable lynx sighting in our state important,” said Brehan Furfey, wildlife biologist and furbearer project leader with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department.

The big kitty was found walking along a road, and locals caught it on video. Furfey says this cat was probably just passing through, and looking for a good place to hunt, "where hares are not abundant, and...avoiding competition with bobcats and fishers," while in southern Vermont.

Because the lynx tends to, from a distance, look a lot like bobcats, only seven out of 160 reported sightings since 2016 have been confirmed. The last confirmed sighting was near Jericho in 2018.

“If you think you’re looking at a lynx the most helpful thing you can do is take a photo or video and send it to the Fish and Wildlife Department,” said Furfey.

“The large majority of photographs our biologists receive are bobcats, but that doesn’t exclude the possibility that a Canada lynx will show up one day.”

A still from video of the lynx captured by a Shrewsbury, Vt. local.Photo byGary Shattuck/AP

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, there are breeding populations of the Canada lynx in northern Maine and northern New Hampshire, local to Vermont. There are other known populations in northeastern Minnesota, northwestern Montana, northern Idado, north-central Washington state, and in western Colorado.

While similar-looking to bobcats, they're distinguished by their long, black ear tufts and black-tipped tails. Lynx are also known for their "snowshoes," their large paws on muscular legs that allow them to easily hunt one of their favorite prey — the snowshoe hare. A single lynx has a big appetite — one lynx may consume up to 200 hare in a single year.

“Both species need young forest habitats and reliable snowpack to thrive,” Furfey explained.

Like most cats, they're ambush predators, hoping to sneak up on their prey before pouncing at it.

Their primary predators are humans, and are mostly threatened due to habitat destruction, mainly from urban and suburban sprawl. They can be hunted by wolves and coyotes, though — like all cats — they're capable climbers and can get out of reach quickly.

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