by Tracy Chamberlin

They’ve been called “ghost cats,” described as elusive and secretive. Their natural camouflage, a grayish fur with subtle spots, and patient demeanor when hunting snowshoe hare, gives them the edge.

This also lowers the odds of crossing paths with a lynx, and the reason a close encounter on Molas Pass with two of the wildcats quickly went viral.

Retired National Parks Service employee Steve Chaney snapped a photo of the pair from his car a couple of weeks ago and shared the encounter on the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Facebook page. As of Wednesday morning, the posting had more than 15,000 “likes,” 1,650 comments and was shared by almost 12,000 people.

“That’s viral for wildlife,” said Joe Lewandowski, public information officer for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Just the Facts Colorado Parks and Wildlife Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ColoradoParksandWildlife To report a lynx sighting: wildlife.state.co.us/WildlifeSpecies/SpeciesOfConcern/ Mammals/Lynx/Pages/LynxSightings.aspx

Lewandowski, who’s had a couple of sightings himself over the years, added that the duo appeared to be a mother and her baby and both looked healthy.

Although sightings are uncommon, this is the time of year to catch a glimpse. It’s easier to see their features against the white snow and, unlike other animals that head down the mountain for the season, they stay in the high country.

“For such a secretive animal, we get a fair number of photos,” said Eric Odell, species conservation program manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, “especially in the wintertime.”

Many of the comments about the Facebook posting simply read “Amazing,” “Thanks for sharing,” and “This is incredibly rare.” Others expressed another aspect of the lynx and its history in the Rocky Mountain state. “Beautiful, haven’t seen any since I was a kid!”

According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the lynx disappeared from Colorado around 1973. It’s uncertain exactly why they vanished, but by the late 1990s the agency decided to pursue a reintroduction program, believing the state had the right qualities for a self-sustaining population. “Colorado’s got a lot of really good lynx habitat,” Odell said.

The bob-tailed wildcat thrives in dense subalpine forest and has room to roam in the Rocky Mountains. It typically weighs in at about 20 to 30 pounds and stretches about 3 feet long. One of its distinguishing features is the black tufts on its ears that can be just as long as the ears themselves.

Retired National Parks Service employee Steve Chaney snapped a photo of two lynx from his car a couple of weeks ago and shared the encounter on the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Facebook page. As of Wednesday morning, the post had more than 15,000 “likes,” 1,650 comments and was shared by almost 12,000 people./Photo by Steve Chaney

Lynx are often confused with their cousin, the bobcat, but, unlike its more common relative, lynx have a solid, black-tipped tail, grayish instead of reddish fur, less prominent spots and large hind feet.

In 1999 the agency first introduced the wildcats, captured in Canada and Alaska, into the San Juan Mountains near Creede. After seven years, a total of 218 had been released into Southwest Colorado, and they’ve been spreading across the state ever since.

A significant number of second generation Colorado-born kittens were discovered in 2010 far from the heart of the original release area.

The numbers proved that the reproduction rate had surpassed the mortality rate, a sign that the population would be self-sustaining, and the program was deemed a success. At that point the focus shifted from simply charting the species’ survival and reproduction to one that could help the state manage its new residents.

And that’s what Odell is hoping to start this fall. He’s currently putting together a program to monitor the lynx long term and get a sense of how the animals are doing across Colorado.

The fact that sightings are rare is good for the humans, who don’t have to worry about close encounters of a third kind, but bad for getting an accurate count of the creatures. It’s unknown exactly how many lynx are currently living in Colorado today, but it’s estimated to be about 200 to 300 animals – and counting.

The lynx were originally tagged with radio frequency and GPS collars upon release but those devices have since gone silent, leaving no way to track the animals aside from reported sightings.

The process of tracking down a lynx, immobilizing and retagging it would be stressful for the animal and expensive for the agency, so wildlife officials are looking for noninvasive ways to gauge the current population.

Odell doesn’t consider hair snags a very productive method, so he’s focusing on snow tracking and trail cameras. He’s working out tracking grids and potential camera locations in preparation for possible implementation this fall. Of course, he noted, it’s dependent on funding from the agency.

The next challenge for the lynx in Colorado could come from Mother Nature. With unusual weather patterns and drought conditions covering the state, it’s uncertain how that weather could affect the lynx favorite food source –snowshoe hares.

Odell said he doesn’t think climate change would affect the species directly. Any impacts would be felt indirectly via their food source. And, much like the elusive cat itself, “It’s very much an unknown,” he added.