PERHAM, Maine — A photographer who spotted a lynx in this tiny community near Caribou captured it on camera and shared the image with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife on Wednesday.
State wildlife biologist Rich Hoppe confirmed for photographer Lou Lorenzo it was a lynx, not a bobcat, because of its larger paws, completely black-tipped tail and extended ear tufts.
Department officials said in a written statement issued Wednesday that lynx, while rarely spotted, are found throughout much of northern Maine. From 1999 to 2011, the department captured and radio-collared 85 lynx in one study area and documented the production of 42 litters of kittens, according to the statement. That study provided insight into what lynx prefer for habitat, what they utilize for a home range and how this impacts reproduction and survival. This past winter, DIF&W biologists conducted lynx track surveys in 25 towns.
In Maine, lynx are most common in the spruce and fir flats of Aroostook and Piscataquis counties and northern Penobscot, Somerset, Franklin and Oxford counties, where snow depths often are the highest in the state. Although lynx are more common in northern and western Maine, they have begun to expanding into eastern sections. Last year, the DIF&W ordered the halt of all above-ground trapping in the northern half of the state in response to the death of two Canada lynx that were killed in traps in the fall.