Wildlife

Lynx have long, tufted ears, long legs, and exceptionally large feet that enable them to move easily across deep snow. Their coats are gray streaked with black on the neck ruff, forehead, back, and legs. They also have a short tail with a unique black circle around the tip. Lynx usually weigh 13 to 30 pounds and stand 24 to 28 inches at the shoulder.

Lynx prey mainly on snowshoe hares. The lynx's survival is tied closely to that of the hare, and, as a result, lynx populations follow the hare's roughly 10 year cycle of abundance and decline. Other prey includes ptarmigan and small mammals. Predation on large mammals is uncommon.

Lynx are mostly solitary and nocturnal. Breeding occurs March through April with kittens born in May or June. The litter size is usually two to four kittens, born in a natural den such as a hollow tree or beneath roots.

Resources:

Burt, William H. and Richard P. Grossenheider. 1980. Peterson field guide to mammals. Houghton Mifflin Company. Boston Massachusetts.

Alaska Geographic Society. 1996. Mammals of Alaska: a comprehensive field guide from the publishers of Alaska geographic. The Alaska Geographic Society. Anchorage Alaska.

For more information, visit the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's wildlife notebook pages.