Canada Lynx on the Gunflint Trail
Of the many boreal forest creatures you might see on a trip to the Gunflint Trail, one of the most elusive is the Canada lynx. Most guests never lay eyes on a lynx, but if you’re hoping to see one, this might be your year. There have already been several sightings in the area.
How Can I See a Lynx?
Lynx like to live in dense northern forests. They thrive in cold conditions and deep snow. That makes our part of Minnesota one of the few places in the U.S. where you can see lynx in the wild. The DNR tracked lynx sightings in Minnesota from 2000-2006, and as you can see, the vast majority were in the Arrowhead region.
Once you’re here in lynx territory, though, actually catching a glimpse of one takes a lot of luck. One reason they’re difficult to spot is that they’re most active at night. Much like a housecat, they spend hours just lounging around during the day. The depressions they leave in the snow while resting are called daybeds, and scientists sometimes use the hair left behind in them to learn more about lynx.
While they mostly hunt by night, it’s still sometimes possible to see a lynx during the day. February and March are mating season for the lynx, which makes this an ideal time to see them out and about.
Lynx or Bobcat?
Minnesota is home to three native species of wildcats: cougars, bobcats, and lynx. Of these, bobcats are the most common, with around 2,000 individuals in Minnesota. Their range also spreads into the Southern U.S. and Mexico. Lynx, on the other hand, mostly live in Canada, with the bottom part of their range dipping into Minnesota. That means northern Minnesota is one of just a few places where you have to wonder: did I see a bobcat or a lynx?
Bobcats are usually a bit smaller than Canada lynx, but the two types of cats are close enough in size to be easily mistaken for each other. The first place to look to tell them apart is the legs. A lynx’s back legs are noticeably longer than its front legs. It also has huge paws which act like snowshoes and allow it to walk on deep, soft snow. Other differences are more subtle—while both cats have tufted ears, the lynx’s tufts are longer. They both have short, “bobbed” tails, but lynx tails are black all around the tip, as if they’ve been dipped in ink, while bobcat tails have black and white stripes and a smaller black tip. And counterintuitively, the bobcat’s tail is actually longer than the lynx’s.
Just to confuse the issue, the occasional lynx-bobcat hybrid has also turned up in Minnesota.
The Lynx Lifestyle
Lynx primarily survive on snowshoe hares. Because they’re so closely tied to this one food source (it can be up to 96 percent of their diet), their range expands and contracts based on the snowshoe hare population. Lynx have been known to eat birds and other small mammals, or even scavenge road kill, but they never live in areas with no snowshoe hares at all.
Lynx are skilled hunters with great hearing, thanks to the tufts on their ears, and eyesight good enough to see a mouse 250 feet away. Sometimes they leap into the wells at the base of trees hoping to flush out a hare.
Lynx are not exactly social butterflies. While their territories may overlap with that of another lynx—especially one of the same sex—they generally stay away from members of their own species until it’s time to mate. If you’re lucky enough to see a group of lynx together, they’re probably a family (like these five seen near Tofte). Lynx don’t leave their mother for about a year, until next spring’s mating season comes around.
Lynx Kittens
Mating season for lynx takes place in late winter and early spring, and the kittens are born two months later. They weigh less than half a pound at birth and will open their eyes at around 10-17 days. They can walk within the first month and are weaned when they’re 3-5 months old. Also, they’re really, really cute.
The snowshoe hare population peaks about every ten years and the lynx population follows closely behind. Research in Maine found that when the snowshoe hare population is high, litters of up to five kittens are not uncommon, whereas when hares are scarce, reproduction almost ceases.
State officials used to claim that we had no breeding pairs of lynx in Minnesota, but as of the early 2000s, there are records of lynx kittens being born here every year. Numerous multi-generational lynx families have been spotted along the Gunflint Trail in recent spring seasons, so lynx families appear to be reproducing and faring well in this area.
How Many Lynx are in Minnesota?
Estimates generally put the Minnesota lynx population at somewhere between 50-200 individuals, all in the northern part of the state. It’s hard for scientists to know exactly, though. Many of the lynx are probably in remote areas which are difficult to access in heavy snow, so researchers simply don’t know how many are out there.
Threatened Status
Canada lynx used to be a lot more common in the U.S. than they are now—nearly half of the states have historical records of lynx sightings. Their decline is largely due to trapping and changes in habitat caused by logging.
Lynx have been protected in Minnesota since 1984. In 2000, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service classified the lynx as a federally threatened species in the lower 48 states. While lynx are now protected, some are lost to encounters with humans nonetheless. For example, there have been documented cases of lynx being hit by cars, trapped in traps set for other animals, and shot. One environmental organization, the Center for Biological Diversity, threatened the Minnesota DNR with a lawsuit in December for failing to protect Canada lynx from trappers. The group claims that state and federal agencies have documented captures of 16 lynx over the past decade in traps that were set for other species in northern Minnesota, including six that resulted in the lynx’s death.
Climate change is also hard on Canada lynx. They’re true specialists, designed to hunt snowshoe hares in snowy conditions. When there’s less snow, the lynx get more competition from other carnivores like bobcats and fishers.
Come to Bearskin, See a Lynx… Maybe
Canada lynx are one of the hardest local creatures to spot, so we can’t make any promises! But now is a great time to try and see one of these beautiful and secretive cats.