seen a black bob the other day

[jcfranklin]

we have several bobs around here but this is the first black bob i have ever seen.it was black with silver on the ears and in the flanks. is this very common?

[super white hunter]

Where in colorado lets get him

[BOSS HOG]

iv seen 2 here in ca that were black

[walkerpups]

i seen one like that earlier this year but the one i seen came out of i blackberry patch so i assumed it was black from the berries

[coastrangecathunting]

anyone have a picture im haveing a hard time believing it .

jc

[floridacathunter]

Go to Google , enter" Melanism in bobcats", to see a picture. Many years ago, my Dad had a black bobcat hide. This cat was caught in Desoto county Florida by Atharay Atkins and Walter Wheeler, two good friends and good cat hunters, who unfortunately have gone on to a better life. This hide was'nt tanned properly and eventually lost all of its hair. Several instances of melanistic bobcats have occured in the South-central area of Florida. Looking forward to a Good year to hunt in 2012. We still need rain. Good luck and happy new year to all. I'll hush now. John

[super white hunter]

Holy cow those are awesome, would love to see one of those pop up in a trap or up in the tree.

But it sais on one of those sites that none have been reported outside of Florida.

[BlazeNBrat]

They can appear to be black when they get damp or wet. We where chasing one the other day, seen it cross the road a few times, thought we we're chasing a real dark or black one. Come to find out after we caught it, he was just wet.

[catdog360]

Dale Cole killed one years ago that was jet black with silver spots.very pretty cat. I saw one about 10the years ago that was about half black. Very dark coastal cat. Unfortunately we weren't hunting.

[George Streepy]

I have never seen a completely black bobcat like those that are sometimes found in Florida. I have seen a few coastal bobcats that had a whole lot of black on them. This is a picture of one on my wall that has a bit of black on it. It was taken in NW Oregon. The picture makes the cat look lighter than it is in real life. I have seen a few that were quite a bit darker. As far as how they might look in a tree or crossing a road, this particular cat looked jet black when it crossed the road.

[BlazeNBrat]

No image? could be my connection.

[George Streepy]

BlazeNBrat,

You aren't missing much. It isn't a black cat by any means. I was just supporting your post that they can look really black when crossing the road or sitting in a tree.

[floridacathunter]

I think, melanism, is the opposite of albinism. Melanism is a case of too much color pigment and albinism is the lack of color pigment. I guess these conditions can occur in varying degrees. Blond, or off-white coons are occasionally reported. Years ago I saw an article and some pictures, I believe, in Outdoor life about a melanistic Mule deer killed in California, he was really black and pretty. I don't believe this condition, or mutation has occurred enough, in big cats, to support all of the "Black Panther" sightings we all have heard about. At the start of this, I said "I think". It's dangerous for me to do that. Somebody "Kreck" me if im wrong. I'll hush now, John

[BlazeNBrat]

Oh, right on. I still would like to see your critter, sounds pretty neat! No dout at all there's some dark cats out there. I keep hearing of these black moutain lions around here some of these drunk deer hunters see out of there stand when they go out and hunt for their 1 weekend a year. Hell we dont even have a breeding pair let alone a black one what they are looking at is a black wolf.
Not saying the fellow that started this post didnt see a black cat, hell I'm no expert, anything is possible I guess. Never mind me, I'm just bored.

[BOSS HOG]

after seeing that pic of the jet black or "melanism" bobcat, i dont think thats what i seen. what i seen was not jet black, more likely a really dark bob cat like one of these but a lil darker