HERE, KITTY – BOOM!

The General Assembly is poised to do something about bobcats running rampant by allowing hunters to shoot or trap the varmints for the first time since the 1970s, when a dwindling population forced an end to hunting and placement of bobcats on the threatened species list in Illinois. Since then, bobcats have been doing what rabbits do best and the species has, at least according to the state Department of Natural Resources, recovered to the extent that hunting should again be allowed, much to the consternation of opponents that include the Illinois Environmental Council, the Illinois chapter of the Sierra Club and the Humane Society of the United States. The House last spring approved a bill authorizing bobcat hunting with a bag limit of one cat per season, and the bill is now moving forward in the Senate. The bill talks about firearms and traps, but we like the clause that says hunters would be allowed to take bobcats “by use of a small light which is worn on the body or hand-held by a person on foot.” Hunters bashing bobcats with flashlights. Now that would be a fair fight.

This article appears in Dec 4-10, 2014.