BOBCAT is the name by which the wild cats of the genusLynx are known in most of the United States, particularlythe warmer parts—West and Southwest. Thoughrelated to the mountain lion, or cougar, both being membersof the same family, the bobcat is a much smaller animal andof somewhat different habits, so far as the selection of preyis concerned. Its larger cousin, the Canada lynx, is foundin the northern, more forested, parts of the United Statesand in Canada. The economic relations of the two aresimilar, except as forest-dwelling habits are modified by thebobcat's environment of plains and deserts in the Southwest.The bobcat has keen eyesight and a good sense of smell,though the latter is not so acute as in the wolf or the coyote.Most of its hunting for food is done at night, and the animalis aided by sight rather than by scent. The advance ofsettlement and the occupation of the bobcat's former rangesfor stock raising have not so much crowded back this predatoras they have given it a new and satisfying provender,particularly in the young of the flocks and herds of thestockman and the poultry of the farmer. Control of itsdepredations at times becomes necessary to man's economicwelfare.