Lynx family pays us a visit

What a thrill this morning as I was working on some ice fishing lures at the kitchen table to see a family of at least four Canada lynx.
I fortunately had my pocket Olympus FE-340 camera within reach and started clicking away.
All the lynxes in the photos are young ones, probably three-quarters grown. They grow to about 40 inches in length and I would say these were about 30 inches. A mature lynx weights about 20 pounds.
I got a good look at three of the small cats and just had a glimpse of a fourth animal farther back in the bush. It was likely a parent as the adults and the young stick together until the young ones reach adulthood.
I've seen these lynx families a few times as they have crossed highways in Northern Ontario.
This is the first time I have ever gotten a photo!
The rear legs of lynxes seem higher than their front ones, making it look like they are going downhill.
Note the "snowshoes" they have for paws. These furry feet make them twice as good as their more southerly cousin, the bobcat, at staying on top of the snow.
Lynxes eat almost nothing but snowshoe or varying hares which sport their own snowshoe equipment.
The hares do have one advantage; they turn almost completely white in the winter. Only the tips of their ears are black.
Lynxes hunt strictly by sight; so, if the hare remains motionless its camouflage might keep it safe. It would take nerves of steel, however, to have a group of predators like this with their massive hooked claws walking within a few feet of you and not bolting.
This family was obviously hunting. They were spread out, probably 30 feet apart, and were combing the edge of the treeline, around the bases of balsam fir trees and through alders -- right where "bunnies" like to hang out.
There have been lots of hares around the last couple of years. Their numbers go in 11-year cycles, the same as do the lynx.
Actually, many things in Nature have an 11-year cycle such as extreme forest fire years. Not surprisingly, there is also an 11-year cycle to the sun. That cycle is peaking this year.
Click to go back to our website
Click to see the latest on the blog