Bobcat Sighting in Allerton Park

[ysabetwordsmith]

A trail camera caught a bobcat at Allerton Park. :D This is a big sculpture park some distance from us; we've visited there a number of times. It has a river, and beavers, among other things.

A while back, I found a bobcat track on Grand Prairie Friends land, not far from my home. I think GPF is having a big impact. Over the years, they've racked up hundreds of acres. It started up near the Champaign-Urbana area but now the biggest pieces are more down here. For years, the local wildlife had been declining as habitat was cleared. But now I'm seeing signs of more and bigger wildlife -- the bobcats, for instance, and intermittent sightings of bald eagles. So that's really exciting.

Comments

[the_broken_tower]

Big wildlife (and large predators especially) mean that the land can sustain an ecosystem, right?

- MK (he/him)

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Ecosystems exist everywhere, large and small. Frex, a necrobiome is the miniature ecosystem that forms in the remains of a dead animal.

The presence of larger animals, especially carnivores, means that the ecosystem is bigger and more complex with more layers and connections in it. For instance, here's a food web with a bobcat in it. Subtract the bobcat and there goes the whole top layer. Or go up to things like mountain lions, wolves, or bears that could eat a bobcat (even though they usually don't unless they're really hungry) and that's another layer.

A different aspect is that bobcats, like beavers, are relatively fussy about their habitat. They don't like humans much and they don't like crappy disturbed land. So if you're seeing beavers and bobcats, that means your environment is in pretty good shape.

Allerton Park has had beavers for years, but this is the first confirmed bobcat I've heard of. Of course, bobcats are quiet -- they could easily have been there quite a while.

[cmcmck]

Pics not available in Europe it seems. :o(

[shirebound]

But now I'm seeing signs of more and bigger wildlife

How thrilling.

[yourlibrarian]

That's good news for the area alright.

[adafrog]

Neat.

[loligo]

Cool! I'm in Southern Illinois, and a friend of mine who moved up to Monticello several years ago really misses the nature down here, but she has mentioned Allerton Park as a bright spot more than once.

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

It's not going to beat the really big parks down south, but point your friend to Grand Prairie Friends. We're up over a thousand acres and some areas have hiking trails now.