Although Canadian lynx are thought-about threatened or endangered in components of the Lower 48, they’ve wholesome populations in Canada and Alaska. These medium-sized wild felines are just like bobcats, however with longer legs, bigger toes, silvery fur, and distinctive ear tufts. The lynx is an icon of the North, and an excellent predator for its weight class. The lynx is constructed for killing, and it’ll take down sport as massive as caribou at instances; one thing a trapper I do know witnessed firsthand.
But as you may see within the video under, lynx will even eat one another.
Lynx primarily prey on snowshoe hares, that are in fixed inhabitants flux. So in that traditional predator/prey cycle, lynx populations additionally fluctuate up and down following hares. Here in Alaska, snowshoe hare populations will explode from solely remoted small pockets of animals, to booming hare populations seemingly in all places. The hares exceed carrying capability inside a couple of years, after which their populations crash once more. When the hares disappear, lynx will prey upon grouse, squirrels, and anything they will kill, together with one another.
It’s long-told trapper lore that when lynx numbers drop, grownup male lynx will eat a lot of the kittens, and most of the females. Anecdotally, whereas trapping throughout low inhabitants cycles, practically all of the cats that I’d catch can be massive males, referred to as toms, which had been fats and wholesome. When hare populations are excessive, a lynx will sometimes be very lean as a result of low fats content material of the hares. When they’re consuming grouse, ptarmigan, and different cats, they’re typically fatter.
One of the primary tales I ever wrote for Outdoor Life was a trapline picture gallery that confirmed a lynx I’d caught in a snare, which was then fully devoured by different lynx. The video above comes at a time when lynx populations are at their low level in lots of areas, they usually’re hungry. The video is edited a bit, however opens with a feminine lynx feeding on the carcass of one other feminine lynx, whereas a male lynx lies within the background. Sex is straightforward to find out by the face and size of the ear tufts; males will nearly all the time have tufts longer than 1.5 inches. After a lower within the footage, the male lynx is seen burying the carcass with snow, then the feminine tries to tug it off elsewhere. Since this footage was filmed near a street, it’s doable the lifeless lynx was first hit by a automobile. But nonetheless, it’s fascinating footage.
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The lynx is an interesting and exquisite animal, and lots of criticize open seasons for trapping and searching them. In Alaska, seasons are sometimes prolonged when populations are excessive, as a result of the crash is coming no matter trapper harvest. Even with trapping and searching, the vast majority of lynx will find yourself ravenous or being eaten by different lynx when the hare inhabitants crashes. It’s a vicious cycle, however it’s one which’s lasted from time immemorial.