{"id":146124,"date":"2025-11-21T08:46:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T08:46:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/146124\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T08:46:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T08:46:06","slug":"beautiful-wild-cat-mama-and-baby-turn-backyard-into-their-personal-playground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/146124\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Beautiful’ Wild Cat Mama And Baby Turn Backyard Into Their Personal Playground"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Schneider and his wife had just pulled into their driveway when he spotted something furry at the edge of his yard. A quick look at the animal\u2019s stripes, spots and ears told Schneider he was looking at a bobcat.<\/p>\n

David Schneider<\/p>\n

\u201cI ran inside to get the camera out,\u201d Schneider told The Dodo. \u201cIt was only after I had started taking a bunch of photos that I realized there were two of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the next hour, two bobcats turned Schneider\u2019s yard into their personal playground.<\/p>\n

David Schneider<\/p>\n

Keeping his distance, Schneider watched in awe from about 25 yards away as the pair wrestled like house cats, tumbling and frolicking through the grass.<\/p>\n

\u201cOccasionally, they\u2019d get on their hind legs, sort of like kangaroos fighting,\u201d Schneider said. \u201cSneak attacks. Running after each other \u2026 They ran up a tree, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Schneider<\/p>\n

With his camera in action mode, Schneider snapped \u201cliterally more than 1,000 photos of them playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on the bobcats\u2019 sizes and interactions, Schneider suspects they are a mama and kitten pair.<\/p>\n

David Schneider<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most special part of it was how they would bump heads and faces,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a sweet, intimate expression and a window into the deeply personal bond these beautiful creatures forge. A real \u2018awwww\u2019 moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Schneider<\/p>\n

Schneider lives in Santa Clarita, California, with a hill at the edge of his yard. He often sees bobcats and other wildlife, like coyotes and red-shouldered Cooper\u2019s hawks, prowling his property. He once spotted a bobcat investigating his patio.<\/p>\n

David Schneider<\/p>\n

Schneider often works from home, a camera always nearby to capture these magical moments in nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing their markings up close was amazing,\u201d Schneider said of the playful mama and baby. \u201cThey are beautiful animals. It almost looks like they have white eyeliner on.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Schneider<\/p>\n

He also recognizes the importance of appreciating these wild creatures from a distance.<\/p>\n

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife<\/a>\u00a0says bobcats give birth to their litters in the late spring or early summer, so the kitten Schneider saw was probably between 4 and 7 months old. Soon, the baby will leave Mama for life as an independent bobcat, helping California’s ecosystem stay balanced and healthy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

David Schneider<\/p>\n

\u201c[I\u2019m] very lucky that they are close by,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd feel safe enough around us to be themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Camera<\/a>Camera Captures Bear Family Having The Time Of Their Lives At A Local PlaygroundThey loved the slide.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"David Schneider and his wife had just pulled into their driveway when he spotted something furry at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146125,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[98108,98110,1178,111,139,69,7429,147,1177,1175,406,98109,98107],"class_list":{"0":"post-146124","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-bobcats","9":"tag-bobcats-playing","10":"tag-daily-dodo","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-sarah-ashley","15":"tag-science","16":"tag-standard","17":"tag-the-dodo","18":"tag-wildlife","19":"tag-wildlife-encounter","20":"tag-wildlife-playing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}