The occurrence of sickly bobcats in Carmel prompts local biologists to take a closer look.

In the latter half of 2024, Carmel resident Nicolas Salzano noticed something unusual appearing in the neighborhoods and parks around him: bobcats with patches of fur missing, their wrinkly skin inflamed and exposed.

“Observing these animals in such poor shape, and in a constant state of scratching through open wounds – it’s just tough to watch,” Salzano says.

He began taking photos and noting other observations. He saw that the bobcats were lethargic with a sickly appearance, their skin irritated and cracking, sometimes bleeding. Mange is the skin disease he was seeing, caused by parasitic mites.

But what happens to infected animals, and how to determine whether it is unusual, remains a question mark.

“Mange, unfortunately, is one of those things that is really difficult to catch and fix. It has to be pretty severe before we can actually step in to do anything about it,” says Ciera Duits-Cavanaugh, the Wildlife Center Manager with SPCA Monterey County. She adds that bobcats are relatively uncommon calls the center receives; they’ve rescued around 53 bobcats since 2013 and euthanized two in 2024.

While mange is not uncommon, and is found on all kinds of animals, once an animal becomes infected, its pace slows down. That often means looking for food that’s easy to catch and wandering into human areas in order to do so. Zach Mills, a regional biologist for Monterey and San Benito counties with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, notes that while SPCA’s numbers are low, CDFW has noticed a hotspot of bobcat reports at the mouth of Carmel Valley.

While the reason is not confirmed, historically, in various regions of California where mange has turned lethal, wildlife biologists have overwhelmingly found rodenticides in animals’ systems. Within urban and wild interfaces, there are homes and commercial properties that use rodenticides – bait traps which can leave poisoned rodents that are easier for a bobcat to catch.

There are a number of ways to estimate disease prevalence, according to Mills. Camera traps can shed light on how dense a population is or provide insight into where groups of animals are moving. They also look to the SPCA for roadkill assessments or the number of bobcats captured.

“I think that a big proponent of animals getting so severely affected by mange is very likely from rodenticide,” Cavanaugh says. “Education around using natural deterrents, like installing an owl box for rodent control, as well as how rodenticides make it to bobcats and coyotes up the food chain, is important.”

Citizen scientists play a role in helping biologists understand threats to wildlife. For anyone who sees an animal that looks sick, Mills encourages the public to report it to the CDFW’s wildlife incident reporting platform.

“Nick’s kind of exactly what you’re hoping for with the public: [people] that pay attention,” Mills says of Salzano. “The public really helps. They’re really the eyes and ears of wildlife management.”