Bobcats in the Cedarburg Bog
John O’Donnell
Bobcats are considered to be quite rare in Ozaukee County and southeastern Wisconsin. In the past six years, however, a few reliable reports along with some photos have documented the occasional bobcat in Ozaukee County, with nearly all sightings being along the Lake Michigan shoreline. During this time, there have also been occasional reports of a bobcat or two around the Cedarburg Bog; however, no photographic or any other form of evidence has been presented to verify these sightings – until just a few months ago when images of a bobcat started to show up on multiple game cameras.
Use of trail, or game, cameras has become much more common over the years. On October 2 and 23, 2025, cameras in two locations provided several photos and one video of a bobcat in heavily wooded private property about 0.4 miles due south of Mud Lake. These initial sightings were followed by another picture of a bobcat on November 19, approximately 0.25 miles north of Mud Lake in a habitat of mixed upland woods and swamp forest. On January 11, 2026, a bobcat was once again photographed by a trail camera near Highway Y about 1.5 miles north of Cedar-Sauk Road. In the morning of January 18, 2026, UWM Field Station Manager Paul Engevold found fresh bobcat tracks on the stream under the UWM boardwalk floating bridge. Nearly a week later, on January 24 , a trail camera set up along the Mud Lake shoreline captured a picture of a bobcat. Assuming that all of these pictures are of the same animal, it has now been hanging around the Cedarburg Bog for at least four months.
Natural History: Bobcats are incredibly adaptive and occupy a huge portion of the North American landscape. They reside year-round with moose and timber wolves in Canadian boreal forest where winters are brutal with deep snow and subzero temps. They also inhabit the Sonoran Desert in Mexico where the heat can exceed 120 F and thrive in the hot, steamy flooded forests and swamps of the Everglades National Park. Despite their adaptability, they are reclusive making direct encounters infrequent. They tend to avoid well-populated areas and prefer secluded environments.
Male bobcats typically weigh about 30 to 35 pounds, and females on average weigh between 20 and 25 pounds. Bobcats are solitary except in the breeding season. If you see more than two bobcats together, it is a female with two or three kittens. Some male bobcats have individual territories in prime wilderness settings as large as 25 square miles while females can have overlapping territories with a male in prime settings as large as 15 square miles. Bobcats prey on birds as large as a turkey and on mammals as large as a deer fawn or as small as a meadow vole.
These cats are amazingly agile acrobats! They can climb trees faster than squirrels, which along with rabbits and hares, are a big part of a bobcat’s diet in the north. Endowed with incredible hind leg musculature, a bobcat can jump 12 feet straight up from a standing position. When running, they can cover 20 feet in one bound and can easily jump over six-foot fencing. Historically, bobcats were found throughout Wisconsin.
From the early 1900s to the 1960s, however, bobcat numbers plummeted in southern and central Wisconsin due to habitat loss and trapping bounties paid by the State as part of a misguided overly broad plan to exterminate all predators. Current Wisconsin population estimates vary widely. Bobcats are clearly numerous and doing well from heavily wooded northern Wisconsin down into north central Wisconsin and parts of southwestern Wisconsin. Small numbers of bobcats, most likely young males, may be drifting into southeastern Wisconsin as a function of increased competition for territories further north.
Can bobcats make a living around the Cedarburg Bog State Natural Area? The Cedarburg Bog SNA encompasses large swaths of wild habitat, free from human disturbance. However, the area surrounding the Bog is a patchwork of roads, farms, private homes, and a golf course. The Cedarburg Bog and adjacent natural habitat may be too small a territory for bobcats. Nonetheless, it appears that this cat has been here for at least four months. The peak breeding season for bobcats runs from January into March with kittens being born in secluded dens from March into June. It remains to be determined if this cat will find a mate, initiate a family, and maintain a continued presence in this area.
Bobcat is an iconic species in Wisconsin. Seeing a bobcat in the wild is rare given their secretive nature and their mostly crepuscular or nocturnal activity. We are continuing the use of trail cameras in the areas where the bobcat was previously photographed to try to gather more evidence of its presence.
You can look for evidence of bobcat tracks in fresh snow or mud. Unlike the oval prints of dogs, coyotes, and foxes, bobcat tracks are round and lack the claw imprints of dog tracks because cats have retractable claws. Look also for bobcat territorial markings where urine, scat, and/or four 36-inch-long thin vertical claw marks have been made on upright trees. If you think you have evidence of a bobcat, or if you have recently seen a bobcat in the Cedarburg Bog or Field Station area, please contact the Friends of the Cedarburg Bog and provide as much detail as you can including GPS coordinates if possible. We are anxious to learn more about bobcats in our area.
