To me the lynx is an animal of mystery, almost like a myth of the northern forests. Its soft, fluffy coat, oversized "muffler feet" and nocturnal habits seem to epitomize winter in the wilderness. As a boy I read every book about nature in the north I could get my hands on. One of my favourite writers was Ernest Thompson Seton. Here is a passage from his "Lives of Game Animals":
"The lynx is a creature of the primitive woods, the unbroken forest. In this it is unlike its cousin, the Bobcat, which avoids the dense shade and finds ideal conditions only in varied country, half in sun, half in shadow. The Lynx is so devoted to forest gloom that is has invariably receded as the pioneer cut down the woods.
"Nothing but the dire necessity imposed by forest fires, flood or starvation drives the Lynx into the open."
In this original litho I have tried to capture the qualities of this cat. Even though you can’t see the snowshoe paws or the snowshoe hare he is seeking, their presence is implied.