The bobcat is almost universally regarded as a predator and the state of Washington now offers a bounty on it. The animals doubtless do kill a certain amount of game, but kill also other animals which man regards as pests because they interfere with reforestation and growing of food crops. One of the best natural checks on these pests is the bobcat which, in certain areas, does more good than harm. Where doing damage to game or livestock bobcats may be eliminated by trapping or hunting with dogs.
Trappers report that bobcats have a poor sense of smell but very keen sight. They are easily trapped. The fur is soft and handsome but does not wear well. Fur buyers designate the large, pale bobcats of eastern Washington as lynx cats and reserve the name bobcat for the more reddish race of western Washington. Immature and unprime pelts from eastern Washington also are classed as "bobcat."
The difference between the pale bobcat of eastern Washington and the dark race of western Washington is greater than that which separates many subspecies. Dewey [Smith] of Guler, Klickitat County, showed me skins of bobcats taken on his trap-line along the White Salmon River, which drains southward to the Columbia, and over into the watershed of the Lewis River. Bobcats from the White Salmon River were pale and gray, and those from along the Lewis River were more reddish. The difference was striking. A very few intermediate skins indicated that interbreeding occurs. The geographic variation between the two races is reminiscent of that in the snowshoe rabbits of the western Cascades.
Lynx rufus fasciatus Rafinesque
Lynx fasciatus Rafinesque, Amer. Monthly Mag., 2:46, November, 1817.
Lynx fasciatus fasciatus [Miller], U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull., 128:160, April 29, 1924.
Lynx rufus fasciatus [Bailey], N. Amer. Fauna, 55:269, August 29, 1936.
Type locality.—Near mouth of the Columbia River on "Netul" River (Lewis and Clark River) near Astoria ([Bailey], 1936: 269).
Racial characters.—Size moderate; fur short; color distinctly reddish.