Canadian lynx have very thick light brown or gray fur often with light black spots, and white underside. It has large ears with long black tufts at the ends. Its tail is short with a black tip at the end. It has a pointed beard-like ruff and long legs (rear appearing longer than front) with big paws. Its paws work like snowshoes and distribute the lynx's weight, helping it move in the snow, like its most common prey:  the snowshoe hare.  The lynx is about 3 feet long and weighs in at 20-44 pounds.

The Canadian Lynx has been protected in Minnesota since 1984, but became listed as a federally threatened species in 2000 by the US Fish & Wildlife Service.  Trapping or killing lynx in Minnesota is illegal.  A person may not take, import, transport, or sell any portion of an endangered or threatened species. --Minnesota's Endangered Species Statute (Minnesota Statutes, Section 84.0895)

The lynx is generally secretive, a lone hunter, and most active after dark, and therefore is rarely seen.