Animal 411

Bobcat Spotted Monday Morning on Dogwood Lane; Animal Control Reports Steep Rise in Sightings

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A string of bobcat sightings in New Canaan has officials reopening questions about the elusive species’ prevalence in town. The sighting on Monday morning of what appeared to be a perfectly healthy bobcat in a Dogwood Lane yard marked the fifth time in just three weeks that the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section fielded a report that someone had seen one of the felines. “That’s a lot of activity,” Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm said. “They sound healthy and I’m assuming that we’re approaching the mating season, so that could be the activity. I’m also trying to understand the difference between these guys.

Animal 411

PHOTO: Bobcat Spotted Sunday Morning on Michigan Road

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A northern New Canaan family on Sunday morning photographed a bobcat in its yard—the second recorded sighting of the elusive species in town in as many months. The animal was spotted at 10 a.m. in the back yard of a residence on Michigan Road near Lukes Wood Road, according to the homeowner. The animal “seemed comfortable,” the resident said in an email. “He lingered on our lawn in back and went into the woods when we went out on the deck,” the resident said. Officials reported in October that a bobcat had tripped an outdoor camera in the woods near Oenoke Ridge at Turtle Back Road.

Animal 411

PHOTO: Bobcat Spotted on Oenoke Ridge Road Property

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A resident of Oenoke Ridge Road this week reported the first recorded sighting of a bobcat in six months. Photographed last week by tripping an outdoor camera in the woods near Oenoke at Turtle Back, with a small animal of some kind clutched firmly in its mouth, it’s one of two verified bobcats in New Canaan: There’s one that travels the Ponus Ridge corridor on the western side of town and another in the area of Gerdes Road. “It is a needed predator,” Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm said of the extremely reclusive felines. “They will help with the geese population. They are going to take down the smaller animals.

Animal 411

PHOTO: Bobcat Sightings Reported on Jelliff Mill, Gerdes Roads

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Police say residents in the area of Jelliff Mill and also Gerdes Road spotted bobcats in their neighborhoods this past weekend. Animal Control Officer Maryann Kleinschmitt said she believes the separate sightings are of the same animal. The bobcat’s appearance follows sightings of adult bobcats in northern New Canaan last summer and a kitten in September—though until now, no one had been able to photograph the elusive wildcat. “I am excited we now have a picture,” Kleinschmitt said. Bobcats generally avoid developed areas, officials say, keeping one main den and perhaps additional ones—making them very difficult to photograph.

Animal 411

Bobcat Sighting on Lukes Wood Road

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Police on Thursday received a report of a bobcat sighting up on Lukes Wood Road, prompting officials to wonder whether New Canaan has two or three of the animals living in town. A New Canaan man spotted the bobcat through a window of his home, just on our side of the state line at about 8 a.m. on July 10, according to Animal Control Officer Maryann Kleinschmitt. One bobcat regularly is spotted in that northernmost strip of New Canaan—typically near Ponus Ridge. Sightings also have been reported on the other side of Smith Ridge Road—in the area of North Wilton Road near the Wilton line—and down on Carter Street. Given how widely the species typically ranges—the wildcats keep one main den and may have additional ones—the three areas in New Canaan are near to enough each other that the sightings may represent two separate bobcats or three, Kleinschmitt said.