Bobcat sightings reported in Lakeville

LAKEVILLE -- You know how it is. You're out for your morning walk, enjoying the sunrise, birds chirping, getting your lungs full of fresh air.

And then you see it.

And freeze.

It's a bobcat.

It seems a bobcat has been spotted wandering around the Ocean Spray Headquarters property off Route 18 in the town's North End. There was a sighting on Saturday of a bobcat walking nonchalantly down the long entrance road of the Ocean Spray plant.

"It might be a lone juvenile male," said David Frates, Lakeville Animal Control officer.

"They've been around here for years," Frates said, adding that we "can see them now because there are less woods around."

He said bobcats are not usually vicious and will normally run away from a human.

"If you come across one, just walk away. It'll run off," Frates said, stressing he's never had an incident of someone attacked by a bobcat in town.

According to MassWildlife, bobcats are carnivores and "commonly prey on medium-sized animals such as rabbits and hares but will eat mice, squirrels, skunks, opossums, muskrats, birds, and snakes."

They can be active day or night but tend to exhibit dawn and dusk activity. Their activity peaks three hours before sunset until midnight and again between one hour before and four hours after sunrise. They remain active year round and do not hibernate, according to MassWildlife.

Bobcats deal with human influences but tend to avoid areas with extensive agriculturally cleared lands that eliminate other habitat types. Bobcats are adapting to suburban settings and may be seen in backyards and residential areas. Bobcats rarely cause conflicts with human activities, says MassWildlife.

The site also notes that bobcats may prey on small livestock and chickens. Such pens for these farm animals should be secured.