Do bird feeders attract bobcats?

The short answer

• Not directly. Bobcats are carnivores and come for the mice, rats, rabbits and ground-feeding birds a feeder concentrates. California, Virginia, ICWDM and two city wildlife pages all name the feeder for that reason.
• The evidence splits by landscape. In Georgia, radio-collared bobcats were about 10 times closer to quail feed than a random model predicts. In 58 suburban yards near Raleigh, cameras never caught a bobcat in a yard at all.
• Clear the ground under the feeder before dusk, keep it at least 10 to 12 ft from shrubs a cat can crouch in, and feed pets indoors. That removes the prey, the ambush point and the second attractant.
• Cats and small dogs left out from dusk to dawn are the real exposure. Bobcats can jump fences 6 ft or more and climb wooden posts, so poultry and rabbits need a roofed pen.
• Do not trap and move one. California requires a bobcat taken under a depredation permit to be released on site or euthanized, Virginia bans relocating trapped animals, and Connecticut has no season at all.

Not to the seed. A bobcat is a carnivore, and what it wants is the crowd the seed gathers: mice, rats, rabbits, squirrels and ground-feeding birds. California's wildlife agency says bobcats "can also be attracted to the many birds and rodents that visit bird feeders." Take the seed off the ground, move the feeder away from cover, and most of the reason to hunt your yard goes.

Two answers circulate. One says feeders draw bobcats, so take them down at the first sighting. The other says bobcats never touch birdseed, so the feeder cannot matter. The second is wrong: the bobcat ignores the seed but not what eats it. The first overstates how often it happens in an ordinary suburb.

What the studies found#

No one has put cameras on backyard feeders to count bobcats. The closest evidence points two ways.

Read together: where bobcats already live, food that piles up prey pulls them in, what the Georgia authors call "a spatial response by predators." In a suburb where bobcats rarely enter yards, a feeder does not conjure one. So the deciding question is whether you back onto woods, brush, a creek or open land. If you do, the advice below matters. If not, the Raleigh result is the better guide.

Is it a bobcat?#

At dusk a bobcat passes for a big house cat. These are the marks CDFW gives.

Near people, CDFW says bobcats keep to dawn, dusk and night. An animal eating the seed itself after dark is something else: start with our night raiders page. A dog-shaped animal at dusk is more likely a fox or a coyote, and coyotes, unlike bobcats, do eat the seed.

What a bobcat hunts at a feeder#

New York says bobcats prefer rabbits and other small to medium mammals but also eat birds. Connecticut adds squirrels, chipmunks, mice and voles. All of them come to a busy feeding station:

• Rats and mice on the spill at night, most of the Dallas-Fort Worth diet
• Rabbits eating fallen seed at dawn and dusk
• Squirrels and chipmunks on the ground by day
• Ground-feeding birds

CDFW says bobcats hunt by sight and sound, crouching to watch, then stalking within short range and pouncing. That suits birds on the ground. In our dataset, 11 of 34 feeder species score at the top for ground feeding, among them the Mourning Dove, Dark-eyed Junco, sparrows, towhees, robins and flickers. That is our reading of who is exposed, not a measured kill list. Chickadees, nuthatches and goldfinches rarely come down.

The changes that matter#

1. Clear the ground before dusk. ICWDM says modify feeders so seed does not reach the ground, because spillage attracts rodents; CDFW says prevent seed building up under them. Use a catcher tray or a no-waste seed and rake in the late afternoon (see seed waste and mess).
2. Stop feeding on the ground. A ground feeder or scattered millet puts doves and juncos where a crouching cat reaches them. Use a pole-mounted platform feeder instead while the bobcat is around.
3. Open up the cover. Our placement rule is 10 to 12 ft from dense shrubs, set for house cats. No source has measured one for bobcats: treat it as a minimum.
4. Bring pet food in. CDFW and ICWDM both say feed pets indoors. Bowls, water and droppings draw small mammals.
5. Move the bird bath into the open. Broomfield and Calgary both list bird baths beside feeders (more on bird baths).

Scare devices buy time: CDFW says motion lights and noise work "until they lose their fear of the device." No repellents are registered for bobcats.

Cats, small dogs and chickens#

CDFW lists domestic cats, small dogs and poultry as prey if left unsecured at night, and says a bobcat that does damage once is likely to repeat it. Keep cats indoors and small dogs supervised from dusk to dawn. An outdoor cat at the feeder is a problem for the birds too, as cats and feeders covers.

Bobcats jump fences 6 ft or more and climb wooden posts (ICWDM, CDFW). For poultry or rabbits:

• A pen enclosed on every side, including the top, with 1 in chicken wire over a sturdy wood frame, seams wired together and the bottom anchored (CDFW).
• Two electric wires at 12 and 18 in above the ground, plus one or two near the top of the fence (CDFW, ICWDM).
• A predator guard at least 5 ft up any tree that overhangs the pen (CDFW).
• Animals shut in from dusk to dawn behind well-fitted doors.

In the Southeast and south-central states, the Companion Animal Parasite Council names bobcats as the main reservoir of Cytauxzoon felis, which the lone star tick carries to pet cats, mostly March to September. Survival is about 60 percent even with prompt treatment. Indoor cats are the prevention.

Do not poison the rats under the feeder#

Rat bait looks like a shortcut. It is the worst one. Since 2002, the National Park Service has found rat poison in 90 percent of bobcats analyzed in and around the Santa Monica Mountains, and its researchers link the exposure to the immune damage behind fatal mange. Starve the rodents out by clearing the seed instead; the full case is on our rats and mice page.

When to take the feeder down#

Not for one sighting. A bobcat crossing the lawn is moving through a territory CDFW puts at 1.8 to 20.7 square miles. Take the feeders down for two to three weeks (our working figure) if:

• the same bobcat returns to stalk the feeder or the ground under it;
• you keep cats, small dogs, poultry or rabbits outside and cannot secure them;
• your state agency or city tells you to. Virginia DWR says to remove feeders when problem animals have been seen around them.

Birds lose little in a pause, as do birds depend on feeders explains. The same logic applies to a hawk working the feeder: see hawks at feeders.

What the law allows#

ICWDM says bobcats are protected by state law throughout their range, as game animals or furbearers. New York counts itself one of 39 states with regulated seasons. What you can do in your own yard varies.

Neither California nor Virginia lets you move a bobcat. CDFW says relocated bobcats try to get home across highways and may fight the resident bobcat to the death.

Where this page stops#

• No feeder study exists. Georgia measured quail feed on managed land; Raleigh never saw a bobcat in a yard. Nobody has measured how often bobcats hunt at bird feeders.
• Four states checked. We did not check the Southwest or Canada beyond Calgary's city advice.
• The ground-bird list is ours, from our feeding data, not a study of bobcat kills.

Every other animal and symptom is matched to its cause on the problems hub.

Frequently asked questions#

Do bobcats eat bird seed?

No. CDFW calls bobcats largely carnivorous, and the agencies that tell you to manage your feeder give the same reason: the birds and rodents it attracts. A Dallas-Fort Worth study described by Texas Parks and Wildlife found rodents made up about 65 percent of urban bobcat diet, roughly half of it non-native rats. Seed on the ground feeds those rats, mice and rabbits, and the bobcat follows them.

Will a bobcat attack my cat?

It can. CDFW lists domestic cats and small dogs among bobcat prey when they are left unsecured at night, and Connecticut DEEP says bobcats attack domestic cats. A bobcat is two to three times the size of a house cat. Keep cats indoors, and keep small dogs in or supervised from dusk to dawn, which is when bobcats near people are most active.

Can a bobcat climb a bird feeder pole?

Bobcats climb trees and wooden fence posts, and CDFW recommends a predator guard at least 5 ft up a tree to block one. No source has tested a bobcat against a baffled metal pole, and a bobcat has no reason to climb for seed. The feeder birds it wants are on the ground or in the shrubs nearby, so that is where to make changes.

Should I take my bird feeder down if I see a bobcat?

One sighting, no. A bobcat crossing the yard is passing through its territory, which can cover 1.8 to 20.7 square miles in California. Take the feeder down for a few weeks if the same bobcat returns to hunt it, if you keep pets or poultry outside, or if your state or city tells you to. Virginia DWR advises removing feeders when problem animals have been seen around them, and the City of Calgary advises removing feeders and bird baths.

Is it legal to shoot or trap a bobcat in my yard?

It depends on the state. California has banned bobcat hunting and trapping since 2020; a bobcat harming domestic animals can be taken only under a depredation permit and cannot be relocated. Connecticut has had no bobcat season since 1972. Virginia says a landowner may kill one on their own land in closed season, but relocating a trapped animal is illegal. Illinois needs a nuisance removal permit. Ask your state wildlife agency before you act.

Sources and further reading

1. Space-use patterns of bobcats relative to supplemental feeding of northern bobwhites, Journal of Wildlife Management 68(3):514-518 (2004) Ivy A. Godbois, L. Mike Conner and Robert J. Warren Radio-collared bobcats in Georgia about 10 times closer to supplemental quail feed than expected under a null model; little evidence home-range size changed
2. Does Use of Backyard Resources Explain the Abundance of Urban Wildlife? Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 8:570771 (2020) Christopher P. Hansen, Arielle W. Parsons, Roland Kays and Joshua J. Millspaugh Bobcats detected most in rural forests and never detected in the 58 yards surveyed
3. Living with Wildlife: Bobcat California Department of Fish and Wildlife (copy hosted by the City of Irwindale) Weights, home range, diet, hunting by sight and sound, signs, attraction to birds and rodents at bird feeders, seed buildup, pets dusk to dawn, 6 ft jumps, electric wires at 12 and 18 in, 5 ft tree guard, no registered repellents, no relocation, depredation permits, 2020 hunting ban
4. Bobcats; Bobcat Damage Prevention and Control Methods Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management Weights and lengths; modify feeders so seed does not reach the ground; no repellents; lights; jumps fences 6 ft or more; protected by state law as game or furbearers
5. Bobcat (nuisance wildlife) Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources Remove bird feeders when problem species are seen; no kill permit required on own land in closed season; trap-and-relocate illegal; rabies signs
6. Bobcat fact sheet Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Weights; diet including birds; attacks on domestic cats; breeding February to March, kittens in April; protected furbearer with no season since 1972
7. Cool Cats: Bobcats Roaming Urban Areas Passport to Texas, Texas Parks and Wildlife, quoting Richard Heilbrun Dallas-Fort Worth scat study: rodents about 65 percent of urban bobcat diet, about half non-native rats
8. Bobcat Status and Management in NYS (Winter 2024) New York State Department of Environmental Conservation 10 to 25 lb; every upstate county, not Long Island; prefers rabbits, also eats birds; most active at dawn and dusk
9. Bobcat Wildlife Illinois, University of Illinois Males average 22 lb; furbearer season mid-November to mid-February by permit; nuisance removal permit
10. Researchers Investigate Rodenticides and Mange in Bobcats; High Levels of Rat Poison Found in Dead Bobcat (30 Mar 2017) National Park Service, Santa Monica Mountains Rat poison in 90 percent of bobcats analyzed since 2002; link to fatal mange
11. Cytauxzoonosis guidelines Companion Animal Parasite Council Bobcats the main reservoir; lone star tick vector; most cases March to September in the Southeast and south-central US; keeping cats indoors is the best prevention
12. Bobcats (city wildlife pages) City and County of Broomfield, CO; City of Calgary Remove dropped seed and consider removing feeders and bird baths (Broomfield); remove feeders and bird baths so bobcats are not drawn to prey on birds (Calgary)