The lynx is a member of the cat or feline family with all the graceful movements of its domestic relatives. They have a distinctive face with long, black tuffs of hair on the end of each ear, and an under-the-chin fur ruff. They have a sturdy, compact body with fur that is thick, with a buff colored under-fur and long gray guard hairs. The tail is short and stubby with a black tip. They have well furred feet that act like snowshoes over the deep winter snows and allows them to hunt with ease. Mature males can weigh 16 to 23 pounds. The females are slightly smaller than the male.

They almost exclusively hunt the snowshoe hare. With the patience of a cat they wait silently in a willow thicket alongside a well trodden snowshoe hare path. They live in the more forested areas rather than the open tundra.

The population of lynx is so dependent on the hare that when the snowshoe hare numbers decline so also do the numbers of lynx.

Even in the coldest days of winter the lynx continues to hunt the snowshoe hare.

Lynx are a solitary animal and live a single life except during mating time in March and April. They usually give birth to 4 kittens which are weaned at 3 months of age.