BOBCAT ALERT: Exeter, New Hampshire, on the Lookout Just a Week After Bear Sightings

Maybe that woman who thought New England had a football team called “the Bobcats” knew something we didn’t.

Just a week after residents in Exeter, New Hampshire, reported three black bears inching closer and closer to homes, a member of the private Facebook group Exeter, NH, Community forum posted a photo of what most believe to be a bobcat.

The still is said to have come from a trail cam on Cullen Way, and the poster says it’s not the first time she has spotted the animal this spring. As the photo was taken from a slight distance, however, there was some debate as to whether the animal was actually a bobcat.

Several users thought that because of its reddish face, the creature was a large fox (if so – yikes! What kind of CrossFit have the foxes been doing?). But why this influx of wildlife to the Seacoast?

As one user surmised, the rapid development of homes in the area may have left some animals with no place to go but “our” backyards. Still, a bobcat this far south in the state?

According to the New Hampshire Fish and Game, bobcats actually tend to reside in the southern part of the state, but more towards the western region. In fact, bobcats are known to exist in every New Hampshire county.

Known to live in swamps, broken forests, or farmland, it is by no means a stretch to assume a few bobcats have migrated down to the Seacoast. So, as is the case with our new bear friends, it’s best to err on the side of caution when it comes to allowing pets or small children outside.

And to think: this is all happening during Squirrel Week.