How does a bobcat sit on a huge desert cactus? Very carefully, photo shows

Bobcats can do a lot of things: swim and climb trees, live to be 12 years old and have home ranges spanning up to 20 square miles.

They can also climb a giant, prickly cactus without thinking twice.

A bobcat was spotted perching on the edge of a huge saguaro cactus in Arizona, as seen in a photo shared Monday by the National Park Service from Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

“Perched on a saguaro ⁣(suh-wah-roe), this bobcat finds itself in a sticky situation,” National Park Service officials wrote. “Perhaps it’s scanning the landscape for dinner or maybe just enjoys lookin’ sharp?”

Bobcats like to climb tall trees and cactuses, park officials said. They might be trying to escape predators when they perch up high.

Saguaros are the largest cactus in the U.S. They can grow up to 60 feet tall and weigh thousands of pounds, according to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. They can also live to be 200 years old.

The cactus is covered with “protective spines.” That made some people wonder how the bobcat could sit in a cactus with hundreds of prickly needles.

“Ouch ouch ouch just looking at it,” one Facebook commenter said.

Park officials said bobcats are good climbers. Their paws are tough, and that can make them immune to the pain humans may feel touching a cactus needle.

“That’s one way to get acupuncture in the desert,” another person on Facebook said.

The bobcat isn’t the only animal to make itself comfortable on top of a saguaro cactus. Last year, officials found a bald eagle nest in a saguaro.

“How Arizona is this!?” Arizona Game and Fish said on Facebook. “Our state’s first documented bald eagle nest in a saguaro cactus!”

This story was originally published April 26, 2021 at 11:51 AM with the headline "How does a bobcat sit on a huge desert cactus? Very carefully, photo shows."