DEEP to trap and collar bobcats in Hartford and Farmington Valley as researchers study Connecticut wildcat

Connecticut wildlife researchers plan to collar and track bobcats in Hartford and neighboring towns this fall to learn more about how the elusive animals have adapted to densely populated areas. Project officials have been reaching out to residential and commercial property owners in the area for permission to trap bobcats.

Live trapping and fitting of GPS collars will be focused initially on the capital city, West Hartford, Bloomfield and Windsor, starting on Nov. 1, Melissa Ruszczyk, research technician with the Connecticut Bobcat Project, said.

Researchers from UConn and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection launched the Bobcat Project — ctbobcatproject.weebly.com — in 2017 with goals that included learning where the animals live and how they adapt in proximity to people.

Cameras were set up in 2018 and ’19 across 42 towns, capturing more bobcat photos than expected in a variety of places, officials said. Connecticut’s only wild cat was detected in neighborhoods with 1,000 buildings per square kilometer.

“Bobcats were unexpectedly found throughout rural, exurban and suburban housing densities, revealing they are adapting well as they continue to recolonize Connecticut,” project officials said.

Bobcats throughout the state also were trapped and fitted with tracking collars in 2018 and ’19. Designed to eventually detach, the collars collected a GPS point every 4 hours for about one year before dropping off. The last collar from that study phase was recovered in early March last year.

The GPS collaring this fall will branch out to Avon, Canton, Farmington and Simsbury, Ruszczyk said.

Researchers especially want to learn about the cats’ interactions with each other, Ruszczyk said. They hope to have 30 collared cats well before the breeding season begins in February and March.

Considered a threat to livestock and game, bobcats were subject to a bounty in the state from 1935-71. Since they were named a protected species in 1972, the polygamous wild cats have been resurgent in Connecticut, spreading into all eight counties. A DEEP biologist estimated the statewide population in 2019 at 800 to 1,000. The Bobcat Project also has found that in some cases, collared cats have moved into New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Bobcats are adept at finding “corridors” of scrubby habitat where they hunt squirrels, turkeys, rabbits, woodchucks and other prey while eluding humans, Ruszczyk said. Their territory often includes wetlands and brushy areas, even along highways and rail lines.

Researchers seek to learn learn how rivers, topography and urban development affect bobcats’ movements. Questions include whether landscape features funnel the mostly solitary cats through specific backyards and urban parks and whether the animals interact with each other more in suburban neighborhoods, where green space is limited.

Cars and trucks take a toll of at least one bobcat a week, Ruszczyk said. Anyone who finds a road-killed bobcat is urged to call DEEP’s Wildlife Division at 860-424-3011 and provide location details.

Jesse Leavenworth can be reached at jleavenworth@courant.com