{"id":451349,"date":"2026-02-05T22:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T22:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/451349\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T22:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T22:48:08","slug":"iowa-dnr-say-bobcat-sighting-is-wildlife-success-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/451349\/","title":{"rendered":"Iowa DNR say bobcat sighting is ‘wildlife success story’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDon’t be alarmed if you spot a bobcat in your backyard this month.Previous video above, from 2025: Bobcat spotted in CliveThe bobcat mating season takes place in February and March, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and the bobcat population has been growing in Iowa for the past 20 years. As a result, bobcat sightings have been increasingly common \u2014 including Comet, a bobcat spotted by photographer Ben Neff.Neff shared photos with KCCI’s Eric Hanson.An Iowa DNR furbearer biologist says there’s no need to be concerned.”While not common in winter, this bobcat is likely just hunting for rodents or small birds for its next meal,” according to the DNR. “We are seeing more bobcats in urban settings throughout Iowa than ever before. Fortunately, bobcats don\u2019t typically cause conflicts with human safety or pets, but it\u2019s always good to keep a closer eye on small dogs and house cats when they\u2019re outside.”The DNR stressed that residents shouldn’t feed or leave food out for bobcats.You can see more photos of Comet below:\u00bb Subscribe to KCCI’s YouTube page\u00bb Download the free KCCI app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tCONRAD, Iowa \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Don’t be alarmed if you spot a bobcat in your backyard this month.<\/p>\n

Previous video above, from 2025: Bobcat spotted in Clive<\/p>\n

The bobcat mating season takes place in February and March, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and the bobcat population has been growing in Iowa for the past 20 years. As a result, bobcat sightings have been increasingly common \u2014 including Comet, a bobcat spotted by photographer Ben Neff.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis content is imported from Facebook.
\n\tYou may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.\n<\/p>\n

Neff shared photos with KCCI’s Eric Hanson.<\/p>\n

An Iowa DNR furbearer biologist says there’s no need to be concerned.<\/p>\n

“While not common in winter, this bobcat is likely just hunting for rodents or small birds for its next meal,” according to the DNR. “We are seeing more bobcats in urban settings throughout Iowa than ever before. Fortunately, bobcats don\u2019t typically cause conflicts with human safety or pets, but it\u2019s always good to keep a closer eye on small dogs and house cats when they\u2019re outside.”<\/p>\n

The DNR stressed that residents shouldn’t feed or leave food out for bobcats.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis content is imported from Facebook.
\n\tYou may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.\n<\/p>\n

You can see more photos of Comet below:<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Comet<\/p>\n

\n\t\tBen Neff Photography\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tComet the bobcat, photographed in Grundy County by Ben Neff.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Comet<\/p>\n

\n\t\tBen Neff Photography\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tComet the bobcat, photographed in Grundy County by Ben Neff.<\/p>\n

\u00bb Subscribe to KCCI’s YouTube page<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00bb Download the free KCCI app to get updates on the go: Apple<\/a> | Google Play<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Don’t be alarmed if you spot a bobcat in your backyard this month.Previous video above, from 2025: Bobcat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451350,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[15628,89200,36780,21887,18276,133927,211683,211687,65210,99006,108859,211685,22335,211686,14861,79,201,211684,65214],"class_list":["post-451349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-bobcat","tag-bobcat-sighting","tag-bobcats","tag-comet","tag-download","tag-february","tag-grundy-county-conservation","tag-human-safety","tag-iowa-department","tag-iowa-dnr","tag-kcci","tag-neff","tag-photo","tag-photographer-ben-neff","tag-place","tag-science","tag-wildlife","tag-wildlife-success-story","tag-youtube-page"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}