WASSMER ET AL.: SOUTH-CENTRAL FLORIDA BOBCAT ECOLOGY


number of secondary paved and unpaved roads. The core area contained a
network of 4-wheel drive roads, foot trails, and firelanes.



 METHODS
 Capture and Handling


 Bobcats were captured with National live traps (104 x 50 x 40 cm). From 1 to 10 traps were
deployed at any given time. Trapping was concentrated in the core area in an attempt to capture
all bobcats utilizing that area. Of a total of 109 trap sites, 107 were distributed throughout the
core area, 1 was located adjacent to the boundary of the core area, and another 0.5 km from the
core area. The number of trapnights (TN) per site ranged from 1 to 61, with a total of 2013 for
all sites. Baits included live animals (cotton rats, Sigmodon hispidus; adult domestic rabbits;
young and adult chickens) and pieces of meat (chicken; cottontail rabbit, Sylvilagus floridanus;
gray squirrel, Sciums carolinensis). Meat baits were suspended by a string just behind the trap
treadle and live animals were housed with food and water in separate wire-mesh enclosures
attached either inside the trap above and behind the treadle (cotton rats) or to the back of the
trap (rabbits, chickens).
 Captured bobcats were sedated with intramuscular injection of ketamine hydrochloride
 ("Ketaset," Bristol Laboratories, Syracuse, New York) at doses ranging from 5 to 36 mg/kg of
 body weight. Low doses were given when changing collars and higher doses when more thorough
 examination was necessary. Data recorded for each animal included body measurements (total
 length, tail length, hind foot, ear from notch, neck circumference) and weight; length and
 diameter of the upper right canine; pelage condition and markings; ectoparasites; reproductive
 condition; presence and nature of injuries or scars; and length and width of foot pads and notes
 on their shape and symmetry. Weight; dental condition, including amount of wear, coloration,
 and stage of replacement (Crowe 1975); and appearance of teats of females and the scrotum of
 males were used to classify cats as adults or juveniles. Plaster casts of the right fore and hind feet
 were made to aid in identifying individual bobcats by tracks in the field. The animals were
 marked with an ear tag in one ear and an alphanumeric tattoo in the inside of the other ear.
 Radio collars were color coded with reflective paint or with colored tape to facilitate visual
 identification.


 Subjects


 Seventeen bobcats were radio-collared (Table 1), including 13 adults (6 males, 7 females) and
 4 juveniles (2 males, 2 females). Two additional individuals handled during the study included an
 emaciated 5.3 kg adult female (F2) with a severe infestation of mange mites (Notoedres cati) that
 died after being darted and a 2.4 kg juvenile female (F7) captured twice and released without
 radio-tagging due to her small size. Mean and extreme weights of adult males and females were
 9.5 kg (8.1-10.5) and 7.9 kg (5.8-10.1), respectively. Weights of individuals classified as juveniles
 ranged from 5.3 to 7.9 kg (X = 6.1).
 One of the females (Fl) included in the study was a semi-tame individual. She was captured
 outside the study area in spring 1974 and kept in a cottage on the Archbold Biological Station
 from mid-September 1974 until May 1975 when about a year old, then released at the site
 (Winegarner and Winegarner 1982). She reappeared at the cottage 16 days later and continued
 to return periodically. She was often fed when visiting the cottage. No effort was made to tame
 the cat during captivity, and she was not handled after release, except when captured and sedated
 for a series of treatments for mange in 1978 and for attachment of a radio-collar in the present
 study. She was tolerant of, but not friendly to, humans; and, except for her visits to the cottage,