Can bobcats be black?

Yes bobcats can be black but they are very rare. I think there have been twelve reported sightings, the majority in Florida. A better description is ‘melanistic’ which is more like dark charcoal. Bobcats can’t be a jet black.

: Black bobcat. Photo in public domain.

: Can bobcats be black? Yes, here is one from Canada. Photo in public domain.

Melanistic bobcats have been reported by:

FA Ulmer Jnr in Melanism in the Felidae, with special reference to the genus Lynx. J Mammal 22: 285-288 – in 1941
TW Regan and DS Maehr in Melanistic bobcats in Florida. Fla. Field Nat. 18: 84-87 in 1990

Ten black bobcats have been reported in Florida. Oswald McFadden trapped a rare black bobcat on Christmas Day near Cocagne, in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. This cat is the one in the photo above. You can see that he is not jet black but a nice solid black nonetheless.

Below is another snapshot of a black bobcat taken in Texas and uploaded to Reddit.com:

Black bobcat. Photo taken in Texas by Reddit reader.

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Comments

Can bobcats be black? — 15 Comments

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Albert Schepis on March 29, 2018 at 11:00 pm said:
To see this cat again is such a treat. What an awesome looking cat. I’d give just about anything to hang out with this guy.
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Sarah on March 21, 2018 at 10:24 pm said:
I currently have a black Siamese bobcat kitten. I do have to say she is very different. She is very full of energy and loves to climb everything. But at times she is my terrorizor and other times she is my sweet princess.
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- Michael Broad on March 22, 2018 at 5:01 am said:
  Sarah, what is a ‘Siamese bobcat kitten’?
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Dee (Florida) on May 22, 2017 at 5:09 pm said:
In all of my years and adventures here in Florida, I’ve never seen anything close to a black bobcat.
I suppose it’s possible that I did but I never recognized one as a bobcat.
If I had come across the cat in the second pic, I wouldn’t have seen a bobcat, because the jaw and ears aren’t what I have grown to expect.
The second cat looks like he has a left ear tip also.
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Albert Schepis on May 21, 2017 at 3:35 pm said:
Interesting in another way too, that the cat appears to be conscious in the first photo. No matter when it was taken it’s okay with being handled, which is remarkably tame for a wild cat. I’d like to hear the story behind that, out of curiosity. Beautiful cat!
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- Sarah Hartwell on May 22, 2017 at 6:21 pm said:
  I’d guess it is sedated – too zonked out to care about being handled.
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Frances A Danna on May 21, 2017 at 12:36 am said:
Very Interesting article. I love black cats. Bobcats intrigue me. I have never seen a bobcat here east central in Florida, but I have read that they are in every county in the state, just very elusive.
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Johnny on May 20, 2017 at 9:08 pm said:
Really interesting. I’ve actually never even seen a bobcat before!
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- Michael Broad on April 7, 2020 at 7:46 pm said:
  There used to be many more but they are persecuted in my opinion. Black ones are exceptionally rare.
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Eva D.R. Force on May 20, 2017 at 7:19 pm said:
WOW_this cat looks like the wild cat that mated with my ragdoll wild mix in Florida 18 years ago*Bur he had dark markings with the dark coat.
Mama cats name was Robin and I had to literally abduct her away from him by ingenuity and sheer force. Robin had one large Kitten I named SAMSON* He was spotted/stripped orange and white underneath and on his paws. Mama Robin was black with orange and white spots-white underneath with long fur and white paws.
SAMSON lived 16 years* He had a long thick body and tail. He had a very robust build and a strong immune system. His mother took him out everyday when the weather was fair and taught him how to hunt. If it moved; they carried it home LOL but true !!! Eva
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- Michael Broad on May 20, 2017 at 8:17 pm said:
  Hi Eva. Great comment.
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- Michael J. Lee on January 31, 2022 at 1:53 pm said:
  Eva, I would be grateful if you’d share your story on my Facebook page for Texas Big Black Cats?
  https://www.facebook.com/groups/2444705539158223/?ref=share
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- Kim Carlisle on October 7, 2022 at 5:27 pm said:
  I’m pretty sure that what I saw earlier was a black bobcat. After weeding in the back yard for about 10 minutes, I walked toward the woods to dump them. That’s when I saw an animal watching me, sitting around 50′ away, which immediately leapt over branches and headed deeper into the woods. It was too tall and long for a house cat, too agile for a bear, definitely not a deer, raccoon, or dog. I didn’t notice a tail, it was long and lean like a cat, weighing maybe 30-35 lbs.
  I moved to this rural area outside Elkin, in northern North Carolina, last year and am still getting to know the “neighbors”. This didn’t freak me out, although I will be more cautious in the future. Come to think of it, there have been no rabbits in the yard for the past couple of weeks!
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