Spots on Bobcats?

bl00dtrail

bl00dtrail

New member
I did a search and found nothing on the subject....

and I was wondering?

on a Bobcat...... What determines how many and how dark their spots are?

Where I'm from there are no bobcats at all and I've only seen them in photos or up close through taxidermy. From what I've noticed some cats are almost totally grey and others are heavily spotted. Why is this?

- is it genetics?
- is it age?
- is it their individual diet?
- is it terrain/location?
- time of year (i.e. breeding?)
- a combination of factors?

any information is appreciated.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Here are three photos of cats from different areas. I don't know if it's genetics, terrain or what. Out of the three different terrain types, the cats are all different colors.


Coastal cat
Young_Weasel_with_cat.jpg


Desert cat
His_1st_Cat.jpg


Mountain cat
BigCat.jpg


If you'll notice, the coastal cat is more of an orange color. The desert cat is very grey and the mountain cat is somewhere in between although it doesn't show as well in the last photo. I've found that the desert cats generally are better spotted, but it's not always the case. There are exceptions.
 
its mostly terrain here they hunt woods mostly so they are a darker mor brownish color over in louisianna they tend to be light because of so much open land and fields it also has to do with the year earlier in the year its browner i think than latter in the year when they turn grayer i donno bout spots though
 
In southern California I called silver grey bobcats with near black spots, grey ones with minimal spots, reddish brown ones with dark brown spots, tan ones with light brown spots, and all kinds of combinations. Since in a fairly small area of California they came in all colors, that makes me think it is mainly individual genetics on each cat that determines color. A local gene pool might have a dominant color so that most in that area would be similar. In NW Washington State the few I've seen tended to be darkish greys with near black spots, and a few in south central British Columbia were either brownish or light grey.
 
Within the species Lynx rufus are a wide number of subspecies determined by biologists (taxonomists) by geographical location and certain physiological characteristics, one of which may be the base tone of the hide, or the frequency and juxtaposition of spots, overall size, measurements, and the like. For example, the desert bobcats of the southwest are of a slate base color that is much more widely sought than the ones where I hunt which are more of a roan color. Subspecies can interbreed and the result would be a wide variety of different variants in the same general area. One other thing is that the bobcats around here that you find in the creeks, rivers and drainages tend to have more spots while the cats that live on the rangeland and pastures tend to be more tawny with fewer spots and narrower white bellies.
 
i think it depends on what part of the country they are from. it would be like us wearing region specific camo, survival of the fittest, the better camoed ones live to breed...
all i know for sure is here in texas, most or the cats i have either seen in person or in pics are more spotted than cats from most other places around.
 
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