The pretty cat-like lynx that slinks silently through trees, brush and snow for its prey likes the cold Arctic-like climate of the Yukon, Sweden and Russia, but many are also in warmer areas of Canada, northern United States and a few Asian countries. They all prefer homes in thickets of trees or brush and customarily have two tiny kittens each year.
A fully grown lynx is about three feet long with a two-inch tail and will weigh from 30 to 60 pounds. Its fur is finest in the winter when it is a thick, luxurious gray with long silver hairs. A stubby fur-covered tail and upright ears with long tufts of hair on the tops of them are its most outstanding features.
Their main food in the north is the snowshoe rabbit, but if these are scarce they will catch small deer, caribou or large birds. The Creator has provided them with large paws, bigger in diameter than the palm of a man’s hand, and in winter extra fur grows around the edges to help them walk in snow.
Those farther south also like rabbit meat but include in their diet squirrels, gophers and other small animals and birds. They have keen sight and hearing and stalk their prey silently until close enough to make a springing leap to grab it. At times they lie on tree branches, waiting to pounce on prey passing below. While the lynx is an enemy to small animals and birds, it is actually quite shy and no threat to people. If possible, it will always vanish before a person can get close.
Do you think the Lord God is aware of these animals as they live out their lives in such remote places? We know He is, for we read in the Bible, “The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works” (Psalm 145:99The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. (Psalm 145:9)). Verse 10 tells us more: “All Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord; and Thy saints shall bless Thee.”
This looks on to a coming time when God’s punishment of sinful people will be over and He will restore the earth to peace and freedom from sin. During that special time, when Christ reigns for 1000 years, all created things will “praise Him” in their peaceful way, and the tiger, bear, lynx and any other carnivorous animal will no longer kill, but all will live peacefully together. People who have accepted the Lord Jesus as their Saviour will bless Him more fully than is possible today. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you should be happily praising Him right now, and it will be your privilege to praise Him even more in that future time.
ML-02/06/2000