The bobcat scream is caterwauling. In the wild caterwauling appears to be commonplace during the mating season. The call can be heard from a mile away. This is a loud, long distance call. It is described as a “series of intense mews with fairly regular intervals between the calls”.

It is intended to bring cats together for mating. It is one of a dozen different calls made by the bobcat.

The beautiful bobcat. How anyone can hunt this cat is beyond my comprehension.

Below is the bobcat scream:

 
Also during the mating period the faeces and urine of females are “thought to contain chemical information advertising their reproductive status”. This together with the calls advertise their sexual receptivity.

The long distance caterwaul is classified as a “mew”. It is a variation amongst several of this type of vocalisation. The mew is a “relatively short, high pitched call that varies in amplitude (volume), tonality and pitch”.

Some variations of the call are used at close quarters such as a female bobcat towards her kittens. The mew vocalisation takes place in a variety of situations.

Other forms of bobcat vocalisation are:

• spit
• hiss
• growl
• yowl
• purr
• snort
• chatter
• gurgle
• wah-wah

The 10-12 different types of bobcat vocalisations are similar to those of other wild cat species.

P.S. On YouTube there is some confusion between a fox and bobcat scream. I can understand why. They do appear to be similar. It seems that there are very few recordings on the bobcat scream.

Source and quotes: Wild Cats of the World – ISBN-13: 978-0-226-77999-7