Comments on: Nashville And Bobbing Black Cats

By: Loren Coleman

Loren Coleman — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 22:51:10 +0000

Please see the January 14th updated version:

Top Twelve Black Bobcat Hot Spots

It now notes the specific best dozen locations to go find these melanistic felids.

By: jasonpix6

jasonpix6 — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 03:06:11 +0000

Sightings of black or melanistic creatures is on the rise, panthers, bobcat, whitetail deer, BF.

By: bf looker

bf looker — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 04:32:07 +0000

Don’t know what to think about this kool kitty! I can only remember the cats at my grandmother’s house. Sseemed like there were always at least 10 to 15 running around there. I remember how many different looking, shaped, and sized cats there were. Seems like those cats only took a reproductive backseat to the bunnies out in the pastures. Anyways, this kitty is kool!

By: Trapster

Trapster — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 04:29:47 +0000

Wow, must admit to never having even thought about a black phase bobcat! Neat. I’ve spent some time in the backwoods of FL and have seen a few bobcats (no panthers yet -darn), all had the stereotype coloration and were small, maybe in the 20LB average. I’ve seen some bobcats in wildlife parks that were MUCH larger, at least two times bigger, so the 44 pounder sounds reasonable to me.

Black is a good color for predators in certain habitats, sounds like it’s working out for the black bobcats in some places. Hopefully there will always be a few around.

By: BurningStarFour

BurningStarFour — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 03:18:37 +0000

Yes Loren this a great photo of what is more then likely a melanistic bobcat.

By: kittenz

kittenz — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 22:32:46 +0000

Black bobcats are known to occur (rarely) in southern Florida; in fact the only documented specimens (about ten) were from southern Florida. The black cat in the photo here is certainly proportioned more like a bobcat than a housecat.

There are three other possibilities that come to my mind: servals, caracals, and jungle cats all have black phases, which are locally common in parts of their ranges. Of course, none of those species is native to Florida. But there are a LOT of exotic pet dealers and breeders in Florida, and not all of them are scrupulous in reporting animal escapes.

There are also quite a few people involved in breeding various small wild cats species with domestic cats, and with other species of small cats, to try to create new hybrid breeds.

Neither servals, caracals, nor jungle cats tend to have cheek ruffs, and the cat in this picture looks like it does have cheek ruffs. The cat also looks like it is proportioned more like a bobcat or caracal than a like a serval or jungle cat. And I think that a caracals ears would be longer, and have longer tassels, than this cat’s ears.

It looks like a bobcat to me. If it is indeed a black bobcat and not an artificially colored photo, it is a rare sight.

By: joppa

joppa — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 20:08:40 +0000

Loren, I look forward to the list of black bob locations! Great discussion on cat breeds and bobcats.

By: Shihan

Shihan — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 19:57:32 +0000

Loren, again you are correct and as I said I’m not trying to say that the photo depicts this breed per se. However, I had a Maine Coon cross when I was a kid, he had short body hair and the standard bushy tail – The way that I met Joe is why I’m mentioning this! I was about 10 when I turned around in the front yard and froze because I at first thought the cat sitting in front of me was a bobcat! He had huge mutton chops, a very wide nose and large face – It wasn’t until I saw the long tail that I realized that it was just a domestic cat. My cat Joe was very large – for a domestic cat, and I’m sure that a fleeting glimpse of him could have fooled someone not familiar with bobcats. Of course, he was the friendliest cat on earth!

By: daledrinnon

daledrinnon — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 18:39:14 +0000

In the first photo of the black cat, the cheek tufts are exactly like a bobcat’s and the head looks generally so.

What gets me is that the creature is rather lanky and elongated, almost like a greyhound in the belly and in the hindquarters–but some hungry bobcats turn out that way. It does not look like a puma. I do think I can see the hint of a short stumpy tail as well (it looks rather streaked with lighter color and does turn up at the end), and the animal does not have the face of a domestic cat. The more normal-colored Nashville cat from the video is much of the same body conformation.

Yes, I appreciated the Lovin’ Spoonful reference as well.

Those are some very handsome Maine Coon cats you have pictured there. I was familiar with the breed from past experience myself.

By: Loren Coleman

Loren Coleman — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 16:25:22 +0000

Joppa writes: “I wonder how widespread black or darker colored bobs are, or are they limited to small pockets in the deep South.”

Oh no, I feel I might have, from deep inside of me, a new list, “The Top Five Locations to Find Black Bobcats,” coming on…