A trip to scout out fishing spots led a Belgrade man to a rare find captured on photo and video: A pair of Canada lynx facing off.

Daniel Wadleigh encountered the lynx Friday in Somerset County in an apparent territorial dispute.

Wadleigh, who posted a video to his Facebook, was driving on Route 6 between Rockwood and Jackman to scout fishing spots for the weekend when he saw the two animals on the side of the road. Wadleigh, who works for the Maine Department of Transportation, said these are the first two lynx he has ever seen.

The two lynx facing off. Photo courtesy of Daniel Wadleigh.

He said he originally drove past the animals before realizing what they were. Wadleigh then had his phone ready and his window down to capture photos of the lynx.

By Wednesday, the video had been viewed more than 3,500 times and been shared by more than 60 people.

“You just never know what’s going to be around the next bend in the road up here in the great north woods,” Wadleigh wrote on his Facebook page.

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There are only about 1,000 wild lynx in Maine, according to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. Lynx are commonly found in the northern and western boreal forests parts of the state, but they are not likely to be seen in southern or central Maine.

After he heard the noise the lynx made, Wadleigh said he thought “to hell with this” and switched to start recording about a minute of video.

One of the lynx sitting on the side of the road. Photo courtesy of Daniel Wadleigh.

The start of the video shows the two lynx nose-to-nose in some kind of dispute on the side of the road, crying out in a high-pitched growl at each other. The two lynx gradually make distance between each other and eventually both sit. One of the two then gets up and walks away while the other watches. One of the lynx had what appears to be tags on its ears.

After showing the video to a biologist Tuesday, Wadleigh said it was probably a territorial dispute between the two lynx.

Canada lynx, which are usually between 14 and 31 pounds, were determined to be a threatened species in 2000 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Lynx are similar in size and appearance to bobcats, but lynx have much larger paws and long, black ear tufts, according to the wildlife service.


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