Bobcat Spotted in Mansfield

The Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) has confirmed a bobcat sighting in Storrs-Mansfield.

Fairfield resident Andrew Graceffa said he was driving along Route 44 in Mansfield, when the animal crossed the road in front of him just south of  around 12:30 Friday afternoon.

Graceffa pulled over, snapped a couple of photos with his cell phone and sent them over to Patch. The photos were later confirmed by the DEEP to be those of a bobcat.

“It looked like a very large house cat at first,” said Graceffa. “It crossed the road in front of me and just went over to the bike paths, sat down and sort of looked around for a bit. It was pretty tame.”

Dwayne Gardner, a spokesperson for the DEEP said that bobcat sightings are “relatively common,” in Connecticut and that residents should not be alarmed, or confuse the animal for a mountain lion.

“Bobcats are pretty reclusive,” said Gardner. “They rarely come into contact with humans.”

Over the past couple months, the DEEP has received several calls of mountain lion sightings, particularly since one was  and there was a credible .

 however, there has been no documented evidence of a mountain lion existing in the wild in the eastern United States for more than 100 years.

In fact, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the eastern animal extinct in the wild in March.

And while the bobcat and mountain lion may appear similar to the untrained eye, they're actually quite different.

So how can you be sure of your feline find?

Here are the official identifications of the bobcat and mountain lion courtesy of the DEEP and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, respectively.

• The adult bobcat is medium-sized and stout-bodied, with a short, bobbed tail, prominent face and pointed ears. Its coloring is usually yellowish-brown or reddish-brown with black spots and has a white underbelly.
• The adult mountain lion is large in size and slender-bodied, with a very long tail, round face and round, erect ears. Its coloring is usually reddish-brown or grayish-brown.

The DEEP kindly reminds you that wildlife should be enjoyed from a distance; never try to pet or feed any type of wild animal.