We culled the last red deer calf of the season and left the offal at the baiting site. The next day, at around 15:30, a lynx arrived at the offal… and this just 150 metres from the nearest house. The lynx spent three hours there. Then it left, only to return after midnight for another hour. The camera also recorded a mangy fox, which I successfully culled and disposed of. I discussed the incident with other hunters. It is very likely that the disappearance of cats is not so much linked to foxes as it is to lynx. We also call the nearby woodland block the 'Lynx block'. When lynx hunting was still permitted, I shot my first lynx there myself, and another one a bit further away. There are many lynx in the forest.

That lynx would approach human dwellings in search of food following the ban on lynx hunting was to be expected. A predator, unable to find food in the forest, is forced to look for it elsewhere. Sensing no danger from humans, it catches what it can. Furthermore, the fact that lynx are increasingly appearing near human dwellings can only be explained by the high population density. The lynx is a cautious animal, but at the same time, it is also a very powerful and agile predator... (...)