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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?

Where in colorado lets get him

iv seen 2 here in ca that were black

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

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

jc

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

No image? could be my connection.

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.

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

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.

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