How To Keep Bobcats Out Of Your Yard

A bobcat may look cute in online pictures, but there’s nothing cute about finding one in your yard. That’s because bobcats are fierce predators, and they can easily harm you or your pets. You’re not alone if you’ve ever wondered how to keep bobcats out of your yard.

The best way to keep a bobcat out of your yard is to install a fence and bury the base 6” to 12” below the ground. It’s also important to remove food sources, such as bird feeders, pet food, and fallen fruit. You can also get rid of bobcats by installing landscape lighting and removing hiding spots, like thick bushes and woodpiles.

Never leave your pets outside unattended at night if you live in an area with bobcats. Your pets may attract a bobcat, which will put them in danger. Follow along as we explore how to keep bobcats out of your yard.

How To Get Rid Of Bobcats

1. Remove Pet Food

People who let their dogs and cats stay outside for hours often set some food out for them. This is reasonable, but it can also cause some big problems if a bobcat is nearby. Not only can a bobcat eat the food, but they may also turn their attention to your pets. A bobcat can harm a dog and cat, and it’s common in areas with many bobcats. Even if they don’t eat your pet’s food, they may at least take it as a sign that they can prey on your pets themselves.

Never leave pet food on your porch or in your yard for an extended period, such as overnight. Ideally, you should feed your pets meal by meal if they stay outside. That way, food won’t sit outside for hours and entice local predators, like bobcats.

2. Pick Fresh Fruit

Bobcats may not primarily eat fruit, but they prey upon animals that do. You’ve probably noticed many animals and bugs are attracted to the fruit that grows in your yard. If you see this, then the local bobcats do as well, and that can explain their presence.

A bobcat is unlikely to stay in an area where they can’t find animals to eat, as they need a steady food source. If you pick fresh fruit before it falls to the ground, fewer animals will view your yard as a buffet. Once animals stop lingering in your yard, the bobcats will eventually go elsewhere. It’s also important to pick up fallen fruit to keep animals and bugs at bay. The worst-case scenario is that you may need to stop growing fruit-bearing plants in your yard. However, that’s only necessary if you can’t stop animals from entering your yard.

3. Remove The Birdfeeder

Just as fruit can attract animals that bobcats eat, so do birdfeeders. A bobcat will eat many types of animals, including small deer, mice, squirrels, and birds. Birdfeeders naturally attract birds, but they also attract snakes, raccoons, and squirrels, among other animals. As birds eat from a birdfeeder, food often falls to the ground below. This attracts more animals, like squirrels, mice, and bobcats. If you don’t want to remove your birdfeeder, you can at least raise it or move it away from nearby bushes to deter pests. That said, you’re better off removing the birdfeeder to deter the animals that bobcats typically eat. 

4. Declutter Your Yard

Like most predators, bobcats often utilize hiding spots to catch and eat their prey. Fallen leaves, tall grass, overgrown bushes, and wood piles are perfect hiding spots for bobcats. If your yard has these hiding spots, there’s a good chance that you’ll find a bobcat on your property.

You can keep a bobcat out of your yard by decluttering the area and removing as many hiding spots as possible. Trim bushes, remove woodpiles, and regularly mow your lawn to discourage a bobcat from hiding in your yard. Doing so can also deter snakes, raccoons, mice, rats, rabbits, and skunks, among other animals. It helps to walk around your yard and view it from a predatory animal’s perspective. Trim or remove any bushes or thick brush to ensure a bobcat can’t hide in your yard. 

5. Improve The Lighting

Just as landscape lighting can deter burglars, it can also help keep bobcats off your property. Bobcats are sneaky, nocturnal animals, so they primarily hunt for food at night. Their eyesight is strong enough to spot mice in the darkness around your home, unless they’re startled.

You can make your yard less inviting to a bobcat by investing in landscape lights. Brightening the yard at night can make a bobcat and other predators feel vulnerable. They’re less likely to hunt in your yard if they feel seen. It’s also a good idea to install some motion-activated lights throughout your yard. These turn on when a person or animal nears the lights. This quick jolt of light should help scare a bobcat out of your yard.

6. Move Or Secure Your Trash Can

Many people keep their trash cans outside to avoid the bad odor. However, the rotting food in your trash may entice a bobcat, and there’s no way to know what else they’ll do in your yard. That’s especially true if you put meat and bones in your trash can, as bobcats are primarily carnivorous.

It’s better to keep your trash can in your garage. That way, the smell won’t entice bobcats, raccoons, and other animals. Put your trash can outside the night before your local trash collection service is scheduled.  If you can’t keep your trash in the garage, you should at least shut and secure the lid with ratchet straps, bungee cords, or locks.

7. Utilize Strong Scents

Like other predators, bobcats possess a keen sense of smell, which they utilize to locate and hunt their prey. You can use that to your advantage and scatter some strong scents throughout your yard to deter a bobcat. For example, you can soak some rags or towels in ammonia and place them on and around your fence to discourage a bobcat from lingering.

Vinegar can have the same effect, but it and ammonia are only temporary solutions. Of course, you must reapply these chemicals and scents to ensure bobcats don’t linger around your yard. These largs cats have some natural predators, including wolves, and they avoid areas where they can sense them. You can easily buy wolf urine, then scatter it around your yard to deter bobcats.

8. Install A Secure Fence

It’s hard to keep a bobcat out of your yard without a fence, and installing one is essential if you live in bobcat country. Not only should you install a fence, but you should also bury the base deep. That’s because a bobcat can dig beneath a shallow fence and easily enter your yard without a problem. You can prevent this from happening if you bury the fence base at least 6” below the ground. Burying the fence base up to 12” below the ground will yield better results. Use durable materials, like stainless steel, as it can withstand physical trauma. Welded wire and galvanized steel are also great options, especially compared to chicken wire, which won’t keep bobcats out of your yard.

Summing It Up

You can deter bobcats by using strong scents, like vinegar, ammonia, and wolf urine, to scare them away. Move your trash can into your garage until trash collection day, or else you may attract bobcats. It’s also important to remove hiding spots, like woodpiles, thick bushes, and dense brush that may otherwise attract a bobcat.

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