The Iowa Natural Resource Commission is starting the process of changing the rules to open up bobcat trapping statewide.
DNR furbearer biologist Vince Evelsizer says the native animals were wiped out during the late 1800 and early 1900s, but made a return in the 1990s. “There’s a lot of indications from our information and from the field that the bobcat population is flourishing in most parts of the state,” Evelsizer says.
This map shows the current bobcat trapping limits. (DNR map)
He says the comeback started in southern Iowa and has grown.
“In those counties, the bobcat population remains stable or slightly increasing, even down there where we’ve had a little bit higher harvest rate for several years,” he says.
There’s a state limit of three bobcats a season, and in southern Iowa you can get all three in just one county. But Evelsizer says they want to start out with a lower per county catch in the northern counties.
“These new counties, they can only harvest one cat out of each of those counties, for a total of three for the season,” he says. Evelsizer says that conservative approach will make sure the populations in the new counties remain stable.
He says they’ve had requests to open up the rest of the counties as more bobcats were spotted. “For three years we’ve had a lot of comments and feedback from folks that and when I say folks, I mean interested hunters and trappers, but also the general public kind of wondering like there’s a lot of cats around. Why is there not a little more harvest allowed for them?,” Evelsizer says.
He says bobcats have become less of an oddity for people as the population has expanded. “Most of our bobcat population is rural, you know, country cats, so to speak with it,” he says. “But they’re doing so well that we are seeing them in urban areas, for example, in the greater Des Moines area. You know, bobcats are seen around that Des Moines area especially, but other towns around the state as well.”
Evelsizer says bobcats hunt rabbits, squirrels and other rodents which are usually pretty abundant in Iowa. He says there is an occasional raid on a chicken coop, but they’ve not caused major issues. “There can be the occasional individual cat that can be a problem, but usually pretty, you know, something that can be dealt with fairly effectively. But in general, not a big problem as we see this population grow,” he says.
The Iowa DNR will take public comments on the proposal to change the bobcat trapping rules until November 17th. A public hearing will be held on the issue from 1-2 p.m. on November 17th at the DNR offices on Park Avenue in Des Moines. The rules process will move ahead after the public input.
