Another Bobcat Spotted In MetroWest Area

BOLTON, MA — For the second time this week, a bobcat has been spotted in a MetroWest town.

Bolton resident David Hixson snapped a few photos of a bobcat crossing through his yard along Still River Road on Saturday. The big cat even stopped to pose for him, he said. He just moved to the town in May, and his neighbors say it's rare to capture a bobcat on camera.

"So, I'm very lucky," he said in an email about the sighting.

Ashland resident Steve Davis caught a bobcat on a backyard trail camera this week, too. He lives in a neighborhood near Ashland High School off of Route 135 close to the Framingham line. Sudbury resident Dan Dillon reported to Patch that he's seen one of the cats near his home near the Concord border.

But according to the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, bobcats are probably pretty common in the area — they just tend to be very people-shy.

Marion Larson, chief of information and education for DFW, told Patch this week that the cats are attracted to the suburbs — and sometimes the city — by food. They hunt small animals like chipmunks and skunks, and possibly pick through trash bags.

The big cats have made it as far east as Cape Cod, and one was seen in a popular West Roxbury park last summer, Larson said. In recent years, they've been spotted in Natick, Newton, and Framingham.

Bobcats don't pose a threat to humans, but they might hunt smaller pets and backyard livestock like chickens.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that bobcats will eat birdseed. They only eat meat.