BULLETIN FLORIDA STATE MUSEUM VOL. 33(4)


 The food habits data suggest that the diet of bobcats on the study area was
 influenced both by prey availability and selection for certain species, based on
 knowledge of habitat relationships and populations of vertebrates of the core
 area (Layne unpubl. data). The predominant prey species, cottontail, was
 common in drier habitats throughout the study area and frequently foraged in
 the open on road shoulders and along trails. In contrast, marsh rabbits were
 apparently less abundant than cottontails and largely restricted to dense grass
 or palmetto thickets of seasonal ponds. They seldom foraged in the open and
 when they did so rarely moved more than 1 m from the edge of dense cover.
 In view of the lower numbers, more restricted habitat distribution, and
 presumably less vulnerability to capture of this species, its high rank order in
 the diet suggests it was hunted selectively by bobcats. Although generally
 distributed throughout the study area and relatively abundant in habitats with
 well-developed ground cover, the cotton rat was overall less abundant and
 widespread on the study area than such smaller rodents as Peromyscus
 gossypinus, P. polionotus, and Podomys floridanus, suggesting that its larger
 size made it a more favored prey item. A number of potential prey species
 were conspicuous for their absence in scats. The cotton mouse, P. gossypinus,
 the most abundant and habitat-tolerant species on the study area was not
 recorded in scats. Armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus), also abundant in the
 study area, did not appear in scats, and the observation cited above suggests
 they were ignored when encountered. Also noteworthy was the absence in
 scats of such ground-frequenting birds as common ground dove (Columbina
 passerina), scrub jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens), rufous-sided towhee (Pipilo
 erythrophthalmus), brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum), and gray catbird
 (Dumetella carolinensis) that are common seasonally or year-round in habitats
 used by bobcats.
 The data from this study agree with those from elsewhere in the range that
indicate the bobcat concentrates on medium-sized prey with some species of
lagomorph being a major food item (Rosenzweig 1966, McCord and Cardoza
1982). Cottontail, marsh rabbit, and cotton rat also predominated in previous
food habits studies of bobcats in other parts of Florida (Fickett 1971, Maehr
and Brady 1986). Data summarized by Maehr and Brady (1986) indicated that
bobcats in Florida and elsewhere in southeastern U.S. utilize deer less
frequently than in northeastern U.S.


 Home Range and Social Organization


 Home Range Size.- Mean overall home range size of 12 adult bobcats was
19.1 km2 (Table 4). Means and ranges of five male and seven female adults
were 25.5 km2 (14.8-31.1) and 14.5 km2 (8.9-21.6), respectively. Adult male