Meet a Canada lynx up close

By Julie Harris, Bangor Daily News Staff

This beautiful Canada lynx, caught on a trail camera by BDN Contributor Allie Ladd (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Z8_IYL8pUFQ),  just finished its meal and decided to sit down and take a break.

We were all lucky it chose to sit directly in front of Ladd’s trail camera, because it gives us a chance to have an up-close look at this elusive cat.

It seems to be making sure no other animals are coming to eat from the dead beaver carcass, or at the very least, surveying the area to know what’s going on in its vicinity.

Note the hair around its face with black bands on it, the ear tufts and its huge, snowshoe-like feet. These are some of the traits used to tell this cat from the bobcat, which also is smaller than the lynx.

Canada lynx eat a variety of foods. Their primary food is snowshoe hare, but they will take advantage of other dining opportunities, such as rodents and grouse, according to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. 

They also will take advantage of gift food like the beaver carcass Ladd left near his camera, 

The lynx is protected, being considered a threatened animal under federal law and a species of special concern in the state. The state estimates 750-1,000 of the animals in Maine.

Lynx live in spruce and fir forests. They like deep snow and have the feet that can handle it. They most likely will be seen in the woods of Aroostook, Piscataquis, northern Penobscot, Somerset, Franklin and Oxford counties, according to the DIF&W. 

The state says the lynx have begun to expand into eastern Maine.