![]() ![]() They hopped like rabbits except when they ran. Their hind legs were unusually long and powerful and it became more apparent when they were old enough to run about. The tails were of different lengths but all bobbed. Some were tinged with reddish fur running along the soft undersides of their bellies. Two months later Tabbette had five dark, tabby, stubby-tailed kittens. The Bobcat started to follow, saw us, hesitated, and then turned and disappeared into the shrubs close by the house. Then we watched this strange mating and afterwards Tabbette ran to the house and settled herself on the doorstep. His short tail stood out straight with anger. He was a young Bobcat, long-legged, slim-bodied with a mixture of stripes and spots running down his legs. This attitude was not unusual for her during this period, but her new, determined, prospective mate was. Tabbette hugged the ground, her ears laid back tight against her head and her lips pressed against her teeth. The two cats faced each other, snarling and howling. We stopped short when we saw the two animals. ![]() We rushed outside to see what neighbor’s tomcat was courting our pet. “It was early evening when we heard the unmistakable howl of Tabbette, our dark, striped cat. I’ve taken the most relevant quotes from the original article and from a follow-up letter in the June 1960 issue of the same magazine. I found this account of purported bobcat hybrids in CATS Magazine, USA, April 1960 “Stubby, The Part Bobcat by N. As solid black is a recessive trait not found in bobcats, these kittens had to have been wholly domestic and not hybrids. 4 of the alleged hybrid kittens were black and resembled domestic kittens except for having larger feet. The details of this 2nd case do not stand up to modern scrutiny. Unfortunately on 27th June they were killed by a marauding domestic tomcat when less than a month old. ![]() The ears were larger than usual, and hard and stiff with quarter inch ear tufts. Three kittens had bobtails, large feet, tufted ears and were light grey in colour, speckled with black dots on the belly, legs and sides. In June 1954 she produced seven kittens as a result of this mating. Young also mentioned a similar occurrence in 1954 in South Dakota where a black female domestic cat mated with a wild male Bobcat. The offspring were observed by several persons in the area. ![]() In a detailed study of the wild bobcat published in 1958, Stanley Young wrote of an apparently successful mating between a male Bobcat and a domestic cat at Sandy Creek, Texas during 1949. It’s a nice anecdote, but those blue bobcats were just a colour variety of bobcat and not evidence of hybridisation. The females, if fertile, would have to mate normal bobcats or with the same Russian Blue (losing the bobcat traits). Male hybrids would be sterile to the 4th generation. If hybrids did result from that Russian Blue they would be normal bobcat colour. Bobcats naturally occur in light grey, yellowish-brown, buff-brown, and reddish-brown. A blue domestic cat and a normal colour bobcat would not have grey offspring. The blue colour in domestic cats is a recessive gene and only appears when two blue cats are bred together. At around the same time, smoke-blue bobcats were shot in that area. Measuring 20 inches (51 cm) at the shoulder and weighing 30 lbs (13.5 kg), he allegedly fought male bobcats and bred with female bobcats. There are anecdotes of an extinct line of blue bobcats in Northwest Florida founded in the 1950s by a Russian Blue tom with giantism. A few claim to have submitted DNA to UC Davis or other universities confirming Bobcat genes, but independent enquiries with the universities say no Bobcat markers have been found in any alleged hybrids. There are numerous videos online that purport to be Bobcat hybrids, but are either REFR Lynx breeds, Pixie-Bob or even Maine Coons. The Pixie-Bob and the "Lynx" breeds registered with REFR have been proven to be 100% domestic cat (confirmed by DNA testing). No modern alleged Bobcat-domestic hybrid has been proven by DNA testing. As the pure bobcat isn't amenable to being kept as a domestic pet so owners have been tempted by cats that claim to combine the bobcat appearance with the domestic cat temperament. Although the two species may mate they do not seem to be interfertile. The Bobcat (F Rufus) will mate with domestic cats and there are several breeds that have claimed to be descended from such matings none have stood the scrutiny of genetic testing. ![]()
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