Will County Forest Preserve District Reports Bobcat Spotted in Nature Preserve

The Forest Preserve District of Will County reports a bobcat sighting, photo of the bobcat in the Sand Ridge Savanna Nature Preserve:

Photo Courtesy of the Forest Preserve District of Will County


Press release on the bobcat sighting from the Forest Preserve District of Will County:

"A game camera recently snapped the first photos of a bobcat walking through the Forest Preserve District of Will County’s Sand Ridge Savanna Nature Preserve in Custer Township. 

The bobcat was captured by a camera in the 


"This is the second bobcat sighting in a Will County preserve in a little over six months. A mother bobcat and her kittens were photographed walking through a small open area in Kankakee Sands Preserve also in Custer Township in late September.

The cameras, which are triggered by motion, are used in the preserves to document animal numbers and movements. The information obtained by the cameras helps guide the Forest Preserve District's land management strategies.

In addition to Sand Ridge Savanna and Kankakee Sands, bobcats also have been recorded at Braidwood Dunes and Savanna Nature Preserve in Reed Township, Evans-Judge Preserve in Custer Township and Sugar Creek Preserve in Joliet.

Photos of bobcats in the preserves are rare because the animals are so elusive, said Becky Blankenship, the Forest Preserve’s wildlife biologist. So, capturing photos of the creatures in September and again this month at Sand Ridge Savanna Nature Preserve was noteworthy.

"The bobcat was caught on my game camera walking alone along a game trail," Blankenship said of the latest photos. "My camera caught three pictures. I can’t tell if this individual is one from the Kankakee Sands photos.

"Bobcats can have a wide variety of home range sizes, so that won’t help either," she added. "Logically, if last year's photos showed a mother with two kittens, there is a male out there somewhere too. I’d love to get more photos to help piece this wildlife story together."

For more information on the game cameras and bobcats in the Forest Preserve District, visit bit.ly/willcobobcats."

 

Popular posts from this blog

Beautiful Fall Colors at Gerdes Grove, Twelve Mile Grove in Wilton Center, Illinois

Image
Beautiful fall colors are on display at Gerdes Grove and the Laughton Preserve in Wilton Center, Illinois.  The preserves are part of the Will County Forest Preserve District.  Laughton Preserve, Wilton Center, Illinois  Laughton Preserve, Wilton Center, Illinois  Laughton Preserve, Wilton Center, Illinois Gerdes Grove, Wilton Center, Illinois According to the Forest Preserve District of Will County's website : " Laughton Preserve began with the District's acquisition of an 8-acre parcel from the Gerdes family, and has grown to 430 acres from extensive acquisitions in the 1990s and in 2006.  The preserve contains approximately 2 miles of Forked Creek and has been left largely undisturbed, as it protects a remnant of the historic Twelve Mile Grove (a prairie grove 12 miles along the road from Joliet to Danville), portions of the 1832 Ce-Na-Ge-Wine and Joseph Laughton Reservations, and the historic Wallingford Settlement in Wilton ...
Read more

Local VFW Post Joins Work to Keep Gemini Giant in Wilmington

Image
The Wilmington VFW Post is joining the local effort to keep the Gemini Giant in Wilmington.  The statue is up for online bid at the Grafe Auction website . Wilmington's VFW Post 5422 posted to their Facebook page on March 8, 2024 that: " The Wilmington VFW Post 5422 along with Save the Gemini Giant have teamed up to make an effort to keep the Gemini Giant in Wilmington and relocate it 1 mile west on Route 66 to the VFW.  We need your help. "   Read the full post here . The Gemini Giant has greeted Route 66 travelers to Wilmington for decades:
Read more