Sharon Patton noticed some interesting visitors in her backyard Saturday afternoon.

A mother bobcat, pictured, along with four babies were spotten in Sharon Patton's backyard Saturday afternoon.

“My neighbor called and said he thought a mountain lion jumped our fence,” Patton said.

Then she looked out the window and saw a mother bobcat along with four babies. Patton grabbed her camera and took pictures, above, from inside her home at 2220 Hill Court near the Lawrence Country Club.

“My husband said, ‘It’s a cat,'” Patton said. “Then, I said, ‘That’s not a cat; look at its face.'”

The bobcat is known to prefer wooded areas in eastern Kansas, according to Kansas University’s Mammals of Kansas Web site. The specie’s short tail and spots are its best-known features.

Patton said the mother watched her take the pictures through the window before the family moved on into the neighborhood.

Patton said she planned to contact one of her neighbors, who works with forestry and wildlife at Clinton Lake.