2025 First-Class Forever Stamp - Baby Wild Animals: Bobcat

US 6014
2025 Bobcat

• Part of Baby Wild Animals set featuring 10 animals
• Each stamp includes elements of animal’s habitat
  
  

Stamp Category:  Definitive
Set: Baby Wild Animals
Value:  73¢, First-Class Mail (Forever)
First Day of Issue:  May 23, 2025
First Day City:  Aurora, Colorado
Quantity Issued:  16,000,000
Printed by:  Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method:  Offset
Format:  Double-sided Booklet of 20
Perforations: Die Cut

Why the stamp was issued:  This stamp is part of a set of 10 stamps highlighting baby animals with elements of their natural surroundings.

About the stamp design:  Each design features a different baby wild animal.  Tracy Walker created digital illustrations using solid background colors and simple depictions of each animal.  Elements of their environment were added, such as flowers, leaves, or water.  The animals shown are: fox, owl, deer, seal, rabbit, raccoon, bear, skunk, bobcat, and chipmunk. 

First Day City: The stamps were dedicated at the Rocky Mountain Stamp Show in Aurora, Colorado

About the Wild Baby Animals set: Every spring, a new generation of wild animals begins its journey.  Learning to survive in a world of challenges, they are discovering the skills and instincts that will shape their lives.
In the warm daylight, a fawn cautiously steps from its hidden mother, its spotted coat camouflaging it against the dappled forest floor.  Nearby, baby foxes playfully tussle, learning the art of stalking prey.  Baby rabbits nibble on fresh green shoots while a chipmunk scampers up a tree, its cheek pouches filled with seeds.  At the water’s edge, a young seal explores the shore, its small flippers glistening in the light, ready to test the cool waters of the river for the first time.
As dusk falls, the nocturnal young of the wild are learning to navigate the shadows.  In the moonlit forest, young owls stretch their wings, preparing for their first flights.  Their large eyes scan the night, adjusting to the dim light.  Nearby, baby raccoons, their tiny paws moving with remarkable dexterity, search for food, using their sensitive whiskers and sharp senses to uncover insects and fruits.  In the tall grass, a young skunk, still learning how to use its signature spray defense, cautiously explores its surroundings.  A baby bobcat, its spotted coat blending with the shadows, watches its mother, its keen eyes tracking the movement of small prey.
These young creatures are preparing for a life filled with obstacles, but brimming with the promise of discovery, growth, and survival.

History the stamp represents: Born in hidden dens in forests and mountains, baby bobcats are blind and deaf.  Though they will grow to be fierce predators, for now, they are defenseless.  The young kittens follow the vibrations of their mother’s purr to some of their first meals.  Their spotted coats, a perfect camouflage, will help them blend into the flecked sunlight as they grow.  With their perceptive ears and powerful limbs, they are born to be hunters, though they have much to learn.
But as the weeks pass, they begin to explore their surroundings, their keen senses of sight and hearing developing quickly.  The bobcat’s distinctive coat pattern starts to emerge, offering the perfect protection from the predators that roam the forest floor.
At just a few months old, the young bobcats begin to practice the skills that will define their lives – stalking, pouncing, and climbing.  Their diet consists of small mammals like rabbits and squirrels, but as they mature, they will become adept at hunting larger prey, such as deer.  With each passing day, they grow stronger and more confident, readying themselves for life as solitary hunters in the wild.
In these first few months, these young bobcats are learning the ways of the wild, shaping themselves into the stealthy, elusive hunters they are destined to one day become.