WASSMER ET AL.: SOUTH-CENTRAL FLORIDA BOBCAT ECOLOGY


 In contrast to the intrasexual exclusiveness of home ranges, adult male
ranges were typically superimposed on those of adult females (Figs. 3-5). In
the majority of cases, a single smaller female range was largely or entirely
contained within the larger home range of a male, with the relationship
persisting until one of the individuals died. Of nine combinations of
male/female home range overlap (Figs. 3-5), six involved a male and a single
female (M1/F1, M2/F4, M3/F3 during the period 1 July-25 October 1979,
M7/F1 from 29 February to 30 April 1980, M6/F8 from 29 February 1980 to
8 March 1981, and M8/F1 from 20 July 1981 to 12 August 1981). One of these
pairs involved probable siblings (M6, F8). The remaining combinations
consisted of a male and two or three females (M1/F1,F4 and M3/F3,F4 from
26 October 1979 to 16 January 1980 and M1/F1,F3,F4 from 17 January to 5
February 1980). In addition to containing the range of his probable sister,
M6's range may also have overlapped that of his mother (F3) during the period
20 July 1980-12 August 1981 (Figs. 4D, 5). The number of different males with
which a given female was known to associate during the study ranged from 1 to
3.
 Three pair relationships (M1/F1, M2/F4, M3/F3) existed on the core
region of the study area during the early period of the study after a sufficient
number of radio fixes had been accumulated to give a reasonably reliable
picture of home range configurations (Fig. 3B). The range shown for F1 in
Fig. 3B was based on relatively few fixes. Prior to being equipped with a
radio-collar she was tracked farther to the west than shown by the telemetry
data and probably used a major part of the range of M1 during the 1 July-25
October 1979 interval. Although the M7/F1 pair (Fig. 4B) appears to be the
reverse of the usual case of a larger male range with a contained smaller
female range, the range shown for M7 is based on only seven radio locations
and is undoubtedly less than his actual range. Because of collar failure, this
animal could not be tracked in subsequent periods. Following the collar failure
and apparent disappearance of M7 from the range of F1 in late spring 1980,
adult male M8 aligned his range boundary with that of F1 (Fig. 4D) such that
about 97% of Fl's area was contained within about 49% of M8's range. This
configuration persisted until early March 1981 (Fig. 5A, B), after which the
male gradually ceased movements in the western portion of his range. As a
result, all of Fl's observed range was contained within about 83% of the male's
range by summer 1981 (Fig. 5D).
 Two male-female associations involving more than one female, were
 established following the death of M2 on 25 October (Fig. 3C). Male M1,
 initially associated only with female Fl, extended his range to also overlap a
 portion of that of female F4, who had been associated only with M2 prior to his
 death. During the same period, M3 also extended his range to encompass part
 of F4's. M3's previous female associate (F3) could not be radiotracked after 15
 November 1979 because of collar failure. However, tracks, sightings, and the