Back in 1980-81 off Old Dominion Drive near Kirby Road, I saw an animal which I think must have been a bobcat. I’ve never seen one since. Has anyone else seen a bobcat in Fairfax?
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Yes. They are endemic to all counties in Virginia, except for the extreme southeastern area of the Commonwealth (Virginia Beach / Chesapeake region).

They are not often spotted, but are periodically seen by lucky folks in Fairfax.

I've spotted them in PWC. Quantico's game wardens regularly capture them on game cams. I'm

Hope you don't have any small dogs or house cats. They will be on the Bobcats' menu.

I've seen them in Centerville a few times, but not recently. There are also fisher cats out here, and I've heard that there has been cross breeding between fishers and domestic house cats, creating a new hybrid species. Who woulda think it?

National Geographic Ffx Wrote:
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> I've seen them in Centerville a few times, but not
> recently. There are also fisher cats out here,
> and I've heard that there has been cross breeding
> between fishers and domestic house cats, creating
> a new hybrid species. Who woulda think it?


Eat or mate? I would have thought the fisher would treat housecat as a meal. If fisher were feline that would be easier to understand, but... Idk

Could have been an oridanary cat or a dog.

Really? Wrote:
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> National Geographic Ffx Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I've seen them in Centerville a few times, but
> not
> > recently. There are also fisher cats out here,
> > and I've heard that there has been cross
> breeding
> > between fishers and domestic house cats,
> creating
> > a new hybrid species. Who woulda think it?
>
>
> Eat or mate? I would have thought the fisher
> would treat housecat as a meal. If fisher were
> feline that would be easier to understand, but...
> Idk


It was a fishING cat, not a fishER cat.

My neighbor casted bobcat prints in his construction driveway entrance in Fairfax Station in 2013 when he was building a new house in an established neighborhood with homes on 5 acre parcels. Baby bobcat prints also present. Probably eating out of construction dumpster.

National Geographic Ffx Wrote:
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> There are also fisher cats out here,
> and I've heard that there has been cross breeding
> between fishers and domestic house cats, creating
> a new hybrid species. Who woulda think it?


WHAT IN THE FUCK?

Are you talking about a "Fisher Cat," a "Fishing Cat," or merely a cat (domestic or wild) that catches fish?

If you mean a "Fisher Cat," martes pennanti, that is a martin whose southernmost range is about 600 miles north of here. And as a mustelid, there is no way for it to cross-breed with a felid.

If you mean a "Fishing Cat," as Jack Hanna suggests above... that's just as stupid. The Fishing Cat, prionailurus viverrinus, has a range limited to southeast Asia.

There actually aren't any fisher cat populations in Nova as far as I'm aware. People claim there are after hearing eery, high pitched screams in the woods..but red fox calls sound similar to that of the fisher. Not to mention, fishers aren't as vocal as red foxes, and they tend to have a hissing/spitting sound accompanying their screeches..like a bizarre mix of a house cat and a macaw.

>And as a mustelid, there is no way for it to cross-breed with a felid.

Concur.

Yes, I saw one eating roadkill a few days ago.looked like a bobcat, not sure what a Fischer cat is.

Ediot Wrote:
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> Yes, I saw one eating roadkill a few days
> ago.looked like a bobcat, not sure what a Fischer
> cat is.

Canadian weasels.

Biologist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> National Geographic Ffx Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > There are also fisher cats out here,
> > and I've heard that there has been cross
> breeding
> > between fishers and domestic house cats,
> creating
> > a new hybrid species. Who woulda think it?
>
>
> WHAT IN THE FUCK?
>
> Are you talking about a "Fisher Cat," a "Fishing
> Cat," or merely a cat (domestic or wild) that
> catches fish?
>
> If you mean a "Fisher Cat," martes
> pennanti, that is a martin whose southernmost
> range is about 600 miles north of here. And as a
> mustelid, there is no way for it to cross-breed
> with a felid.
>
> If you mean a "Fishing Cat," as Jack Hanna
> suggests above... that's just as stupid. The
> Fishing Cat, prionailurus viverrinus, has a
> range limited to southeast Asia.


They have migrated further south, populations have been observed in West VA, Maryland, and Tennessee.

Ediot Wrote:
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> Yes, I saw one eating roadkill a few days
> ago.looked like a bobcat, not sure what a Fischer
> cat is.


The fisher:
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_(animal)
Fisher. Not to be confused with the Fishing cat, a medium-size wild felid (cat).

The fisher (Martes pennanti) is a small carnivorous mammal native to North America. It is a member of the mustelid family, commonly referred to as the weasel family. The fisher is closely related to but larger than the American Marten (Martes americana). The fisher is a forest-dwelling creature whose range covers much of the boreal forest in Canada to the northern fringes of the United States. Names derived from aboriginal languages include pekan, pequam, and wejack. It is also sometimes referred to as a fisher cat, although it is not a feline.
***
the fisher feeds on a wide variety of small animals and occasionally on fruits and mushrooms. It shows a preference for the snowshoe hare and is one of the few predators able to prey on porcupines successfully. Despite its common name, the fisher seldom eats fish.
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