Cranston's Ian O'Hara Finds RI's Rare Bobcats In Summer Research

KINGSTON, RI — When University of Rhode Island (URI) senior Ian O’Hara, of Cranston got his first look at a wild bobcat during a summer research project, the predator was more majestic than he initially thought.

“I thought it was going to be all matted and gnarly, but it was beautiful, well-groomed and with an amazing pattern on its fur,” he said. “It’s likeness to a domestic cat was unbelievable, but larger.”

The bobcat was then captured as part of what O’Hara called “an occupancy study” to learn about the distribution of bobcats in Rhode Island, how widely they travel, how they use their territory, and how many reside in the state.

The bobcat was captured with a large box trap and tagged with a tracking collar. Once all research data was collected, the bobcat was released back into the wild. O'Hara was part of the team that helped with that process.

O’Hara’s primary role was to conduct a trail camera survey to capture photos of bobcats throughout the region. He placed 50 motion-activated cameras at random locations on public land and applied a scent lure. The scent lure smelled like “having a dead skunk in the passenger seat of your car,” O'Hara said. He then attached it a nearby tree and recorded the photos of every animal that passed by the tree in a database.

“We detected bobcats on seven of the cameras,” O'Hara said. “They’re very elusive and very smart, which makes them hard to track. It seems like they have large territories, so they’re pretty spread out, though it’s hard to tell."

O'Hara said he was excited to see them at all though because Bobcats' Rhode Island populations used to be much larger.

“Bobcats are a native Rhode Island species that were hunted and trapped and pushed out by development, so they weren’t very prominent in the area," O'Hara said, "But now that we have conservation laws in place, they’re starting to come back. And that’s a good thing.”

Most of the other hundreds of photos collected were of deer and coyotes, but the cameras also captured pictures of fisher cats, foxes, raccoons and other animals. O'Hara said his favorite of the pictures was an adult coyote with five young pups. Bobcats were few and far between.

The research project was O’Hara’s first experience conducting field research, which he loved especially because he grew up on outdoor activities like hiking and camping.

“I hiked about five kilometers each day three or four times per week, and it was great to be in the woods and be active,” he said. “Some of the sites were in pretty rough places to get to. I had to bushwhack through bushes, climb over rocks and go through poison ivy. But I loved it.”

O’Hara’s research was part of a multi-year study of bobcats led by URI researcher Amy Mayer. His work was supported by the URI Coastal Fellows program, an initiative designed to involve undergraduate students in addressing current environmental problems. Students in the program are paired with a mentor and research staff to help them gain skills relevant to their academic major and future occupations.

With just one year left in his undergraduate education, O’Hara is already looking toward graduate school to continue his studies in environmental science.

Photos courtesy of Amy Mayer and Ian O'Hara