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The Maine Coon is one of the oldest naturally developed breeds in North America. Its name came about because it is generally assumed that it originated in the State of Maine (it has actually been given the title of of the Official Cat of the State of Maine).
The “Coon” part can be attributed to many myths, but the most common, although genetically impossible, is that the ringed tail on the tabby varieties was the result of matings between domestic cats and racoons ! However, originally only the brown tabbies were called Maine Coon Cats, those of other colours were called Maine Shags.
Another of the colourful myths was the romantic tale of Captain Samuel Clough of Wiscasset, Maine and Marie Antoinette, Queen of France and her “royal cats”.
At the time of the French Revolution there were plans to ship the Queen and some of her household belongings from France to America. Captain Clough was hired to transport the Queen’s possessions over to America. In addition to her china, silver and furniture were loaded six of the Queen’s longhaired cats. Upon arrival in America the goods were put in store but it soon became apparent that the Queen would not be leaving France. In the absence of anyone likely to claim the furniture, it was distributed among the Captain Clough’s relatives.
The cats were then set free and proceeded to do what came naturally to them, their offspring are said today to be the “royal ancestors” of the Maine Coon.
The third myth was concerning a much more ordinary English sea captain, Captain Coon ! Captain Coon operated a trading ship in the early days of the colonies and he was (like many sailors) extremely fond of cats. He traded all along the New England coast and obviously when stepping ashore to trade, his feline friends took the opportunity of taking a little shore leave of their own !
These cats were the early longhaired Persians and Angoras which were at the time very popular in England. Quite understandably, his cats mated with the local population, and soon long-haired kittens began to appear which the locals named “Coon’s Cats”. As they were so unusual (there were no native longhaired cats in America before that time. In fact, the only domestic cats in the USA arrived with early European settlers), they were extremely highly prized and people began to deliberately mate one with the other and this is how the Maine Coon was supposed to have started !
In reality, the Maine Coon appears to have developed to cope with the harsh climate. But, as explained before, the longhaired gene from the cats of European settlers must also have played its part. The coat is glossy, heavy and water resistant with marked difference between the winter and summer coats. They have a full ruff, longer in the males, and the hair is also longer on the stomach, they also have a rather splendid pair of britches !
Copyright © Laura Johnson, 1999 (used by permission)
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