BULLETIN FLORIDA STATE MUSEUM VOL. 33(4)


 Activity


 Diel activity patterns of adult and juvenile bobcats based on 4966 locations
classified as active or inactive are shown in Figure 9. Sample sizes for adult
males, adult females, and juveniles were 1716, 2859, and 391, respectively.
Records of juvenile activity were not obtained during summer months or for
the time period 0300-0600 hours in other seasons. However, for the combined
data, each sex and age group had about the same proportion of observations
for each time interval.
 Bobcats were primarily crepuscular and nocturnal in their activity but also
were occasionally active during the daylight hours. Greatest activity occurred
between 1800 and 2400 hours and least activity between 1200 and 1500 hours,
with 91% of the locations during the first interval representing moving
individuals compared with 17% during the second. There was some suggestion
of reduction in activity between midnight and 0300 hours (68% of fixes active)
followed by a slight increase from 0300 to 0900 hours (78% of fixes active).
There were no marked differences in the activity patterns of adult males, adult
females, and juveniles based on the combined data for all seasons.
 In summer, males tended to rest more during the daylight hours than in
other seasons (Fig. 10). The higher frequency of inactive locations between
0900 and 1500 hours during summer (June-August) compared with other
seasons was significant (X2 = 30.44, 3 df, p < 0.01). Females (Fig. 11) were
less active from 0300 to 0900 during the period March-May and from 0900 to
1500 hours in the interval from June to August than during the corresponding
times in other seasons (0300-0900: X2 = 4.26, p < 0.05; 0900-1500: X2 = 25.68, 3
df, p < 0.01). However, the reduction of midday activity of females in summer
was less pronounced than that of males.
 The overall activity pattern of bobcats in south-central Florida agrees
closely with that observed in northeast Florida by Progulske (1982). Data from
other regions of southeastern United States also indicate that activity is mainly
crepuscular and nocturnal but may also occur during the day. Hall (1973)
reported peaks of movements in summer from 1500 to 2300 hours and from
0300 to 0700. Buie et al. (1979) found peaks in activity in fall, winter, and
spring to occur from 0400 to 1000 and from 1800 to 2400. Miller (1980)
reported least activity from 0700 to 1500 with a second, less pronounced, rest
period from 2200 to 0200.
 The reduced daytime activity of adult males during June through August in
this study probably reflects a response to high day-time summer temperatures.
Day-time rest sites were usually in dense closed-canopy habitats, which were
about 3-5C cooler in summer than open canopy areas. In South Carolina,
Buie et al. (1979) also noted that activity was less bimodal during winter than
in early spring and in fall, suggesting greater activity during winter