We saw our share of mountain lions making house calls last year, but they're not the only wild felines to occasionally check out their human neighbours. Back in 2013, Alaska local Joann Cunningham was relaxing in her Anchorage home, when someone came to the door. The visitor turned out to be a young Canada lynx.
Despite calling Alaska home for almost half a century, Cunningham has seen lynx just a handful of times.
"I’m living in their habitat and it can be wondrous and scary. This animal is so elusive and silent, it was magical," she told Alaska Dispatch News of the encounter.
She did note, however, that the sightings seem to have become more frequent in recent years – something wildlife biologists blame on another furry mammal: the domestic rabbit.
Top of the menu for wild lynx is the native snowshoe hare, but the curious cats will happily settle for bunnies of a different sort. That's why they're often lured to areas where pet rabbits were once let loose. A pair of domestic bunnies can turn into an entire population rather quickly, and as Department of Fish and Game biologist Jesse Coltrane explains, they're easy to catch and just as tasty.
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Top header image: Mike Myers, Flickr
Backyard wildlife
Animal Behaviour
Predator vs Prey
