Measuring a Bobcat's Ground: teacher key

Bobcats, grade 9 edition, written for 9th grade. Home ranges, population estimates and nightly travel show how a small wild cat uses the land across North America.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. How many collared bobcats were followed in western Virginia?
   • 2
   • 20 (answer)
   • 200
2. How do male and female home ranges compare?
   • Female ranges are much larger
   • They are always the same
   • Male ranges are generally two to three times larger (answer)
3. How large was the biggest home range estimate?
   • 201 square kilometers in Minnesota (answer)
   • 0.6 square kilometers in California
   • 20 square kilometers in Texas
4. Bobcats were almost gone from Illinois but are now found statewide. What does this suggest?
   • A bobcat population can come back (answer)
   • Bobcats cannot live in Illinois
   • Bobcats only live in Canada
5. What happened to Illinois bobcats?
   • Never lived there
   • Always everywhere
   • Almost gone by the mid 1900s, now found statewide (answer)
6. What is the bobcat's conservation status?
   • Least Concern (answer)
   • Extinct
   • Unknown

Words

• carnivore: meat eater
• predators: hunting animals
• territory: an animal's area
• collared: wearing trackers