After first confirmed sighting in 6 years, this rare cat is roaming Vermont

For the first time in six years, some Vermont residents have officially caught sight of an elusive creature: the Canada lynx. 

In August, officials with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department confirmed that a Canada lynx had been spotted in the state for the first time since 2018. It was captured on video in Rutland County. 

Now, officials are saying that that same individual cat has roamed about 60 miles north, into Addison County. The animal is traveling about a dozen miles at a time, staying in the same area for a few days, and then moving on again. When Canada lynx are seen in Vermont, they are overwhelmingly found in the state’s Northeast Kingdom area. Officials explicitly said that Rutland County is not a suitable habitat for lynx. 

“We’ve had 15 confirmed lynx sightings since August and signs point to these all being the same dispersing juvenile male,” Brehan Furfey, a furbearer biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Department, said in a statement this week. “The lynx has moved steadily north from Rutland County into Addison County. That’s a conservation success in its own right because Vermont’s network of protected lands is what makes this journey possible. We’re rooting for this lynx to keep heading north where it will find more young forest habitat and plenty of snowshoe hares to eat.”

More videos of the cat were posted to social media by the department this week. 

There are four types of lynx: the Canada lynx, the bobcat, the Iberian lynx, and the Eurasian lynx. Bobcats roam much of the United States, and are easy to mistake for Canada lynx. The latter, however, is much more rare in the lower 48, where they are listed as a threatened species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can only confirm the presence of stable lynx populations in Maine, Montana, Washington, and Colorado.

Most reports of Canada lynx end up being bobcat sightings. The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department has received over 160 reports of lynx since 2016, but only seven of these were confirmed. The two can be easily distinguished by their tails. Bobcats have both black and white on their tails, while the tail tips of Canada lynx are entirely black.

Juvenile lynx often travel long distances in a search for new territory, a process called “dispersal.” This particular one appears notably thin, but experts say that should not be a cause for alarm. 

“Although this lynx appears to be on the thinner side, its calm behavior around passing cars as reported by observers is not unusual for a dispersing individual,” Furfey said in a statement in August. “This lynx was probably just focused on finding food in an area where hares are not abundant and on avoiding competition with bobcats and fishers while passing through southern Vermont.”

Canada lynx prefer to hunt snowshoe hare, and both species need young forest habitats and reliable snowpack to thrive. In more southern areas, they can hunt grouse and small rodents. 

The animal was listed as a threatened species in the lower 48 in 2000, after populations took a hit from deforestation and trapping. 

Generally, the animals are not a threat to humans. Those that think they have spotted one are encouraged to take a photo or video and send it to the Fish and Wildlife Department. However, people should maintain a respectful distance from the cat.

“Vermonters can be proud that decades of land protection and management for connected habitats have allowed this rare wild cat to make its way through our state,” Furfey said. “It’s a sign that conservation is working.”