Lynx
Last Update/Review: June 3, 2002
Lynx lynx
This long-legged member of the cat family is about half the length of the cougar and weighs 8 to 14 kg. The lynx is distinguished from the bobcat by its larger size, tufted ears, a black tip on its short tail, and long dense fur that is frosted-grey in color with a few dark spots. It stands somewhat higher at the rump than at the shoulders.
Mating takes place in March, and three to four kittens are born in May. The den is usually a rock cavity hidden in dense spruce woods. Food is brought to the den until the kittens are two to three months old. At that time, they join their parents in hunts.
The lynx is highly dependent on the snowshoe hare for food. When hares are scarce, lynx may be forced to travel great distances in search of alternative foods. At this time they may take rodents, birds, carrion, deer fawns or lambs of mountain sheep.
Lynx prefer forest with a thick undercover of shrubs and deadfall. They are common in mixedwood, montane and foothill life zones.
Their population tends to cycle over approximately 10-year periods from low to high to low numbers. These cycles roughly follow similar cyclic changes in the snowshoe hare population.
Trapping
The lynx regularly ranks in the top five of the most valuable furbearers in Alberta, mainly as a result of the demand for its long fur. In 2000-2001, Alberta trappers produced 2028 lynx pelts at a mean price of $91.45 per pelt, or a total production for the province of $185 461.
Lynx are trapped from early December to late January, depending on the region. Lynx pelts are in their prime from mid-December to early February.
