Anyone ever heard of a "coon cat"?

[peruban]

When I was growing up a friend of mine's cat gave birth to a litter of what could only be described as half cat, half raccoon. All but one in the litter died within days. The surviving one was kept in my friend's back yard chained up, it was a vicious, snarling creature. Luckily, it only lived for a couple of years.

I know this sounds stupid, but you really had to be there.

Anybody else ever hear of such a thing?

[demnan]

1. The Maine Coon cat is a breed of cat

Although they are quite large, they are not part raccoon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_Coon

Raccoons and cats cannot mate as they are not part of the same genetic family.

[redqueen]

3. Are you 100% certain of that?

Maybe that's where Oscar came from.

[billyskank]

4. Who's Oscar?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

5. remember ---

is it this thread?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=624815

[redqueen]

8. Hah... I just got done searching for that.

Thanks. :hi:

[billyskank]

11. I'd forgotten about that!

:rofl:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

36. yw.....GMTA

smells the same doesn't it :D :hi:

[pokerfan]

39. genetically impossible

Family: Procyonidae
Genus: Procyon
Species: P. lotor

Family: Felidae
Genus: Felis
Species: F. catus

http://www.messybeast.com/marten-cat.html

Besides there are things up with which a cat will not put. Unlike dogs:

[slutticus]

40. LOL

Some day, no one will remember oscar. We must keep his memory alive.

[peruban]

9. I know that genetics prevent interspecies breeding.

That's what was so f'd up about it. This one was given birth to by a regular old tomcat. Oh, and it was in South Florida, so I don't know if that has any significance. It had all the traditional marking of a raccoon with a stockier body than a regular cat.

Oh, and btw, you CAN interbreed a horse with a donkey to create a mule, but it's sterile and can't reproduce on its own.

[davsand]

16. It really MUST have been amazing if a TOM gave birth to it.

Usually that is a job for the females of the cat world.


:eyes:


Laura

[peruban]

18. Oops, sorry.

I meant "common alley cat", I forgot tomcat is reserved for males.

[SoxFan]

33. Explain where James Carville came from

[LostinVA]

2. Raccoons and cats can't mate

And, your neighbor's cat was probably nasty and snarling because it was a cat chained up in a backyard.

[DS1]

10. no shit

this thread reeks of moron

[billyskank]

12. The farce is strong with this one.

[DS1]

13. I still don't get the hype over the Oscar thread

complete failure to amuse me :shrug:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

35. he can really string it along can't he...

I will give him credit for that ;) :hi:

[davsand]

19. I sent that to everyone I knew. That poster almost killed me--it was that funny.

Very rarely do I forward stuff but THAT one got sent far and wide. My officemate STILL has it hanging in his office as an example of just how stupid people can be.




Laura

[Fire Walk With Me]

23. That poster has "joke" written all over it.

:shrug:

I have a similar "lost" Los Angeles/Animal poster pic in my photobucket account, but I'm not posting it.

[peruban]

14. I know logic dictates otherwise, but you really have to had seen this thing.

And they kept it chained up because it was vicious, not the other way around.

[LostinVA]

15. An animal should never be chained -- what a horrible life

[peruban]

17. I agree, but this thing was dangerous.

Like I said, luckily it only lived a couple of years.

[LostinVA]

21. Then it should have been put out of its misery in a humane way

[peruban]

25. I agree again

But it wasn't my decision to make. I think the family kept it partly out of pity and partly out of novelty.

[Midlodemocrat]

24. It was vicious from birth? Not seeing it.

The critter got vicious from being chained, not the other way around. I can't imagine chaining up a cat in the backyard. Blows my mind.

[peruban]

29. Not exactly.

But it started behaving feral before long and so they chained it up. It grew to be the size of a small dog and definitely had typical raccoon markings and large hind quarters like a raccoon.

I'm not defending the way this thing was kept, I'm just wondering if anyone's ever heard of such a thing. Believe you me, I couldn't believe it even after I saw the thing. But there you go.

[jobycom]

6. If this is Oscar II, it's a weak imitation.

:rofl:

It is impossible, according to experts, for cats and raccoons to breed.

[undeterred]

7. The ones I have seen were absolutely gorgeous indoor cats.

[Taverner]

20. Maine Coon Cat

When it was feral, it was thought that they were half raccoon. This, of course, is impossible. But they have a real raccoon-like tail.

Sweet gentle giants of cats...

[graywarrior]

22. My cat Kamere is half Maine coon

[Missy Vixen]

26. We have two Maine Coon boys

They're insect assassins and 3 a.m. kissy faces. Vicious? Not even, unless you consider the fact they might love us to death. Meet Mojo and Oscar.



We adore them.

Julie

[Midlodemocrat]

27. Those are absolutely beautiful cats.

:hi: Julie!!!!

[VaYallaDawg]

28. Wow, they are absolutely beautiful!!

I still grieve for my Maine coon, Grady - he died two years ago in December. He was a firm believer in chasing chipmunks (was always too lumbering and slow to catch one), but the fun was in the pursuit.

Give your two a big hug!

[Maine-ah]

30. they look like my mom's.

both of her boys are great with my 2 y.o. too. Very lovey, friendly kitties.

It is unknown how and when the Maine Coon first came to the United States.<3> There are only theories and folktales. One such folktale includes that of Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France, who was executed in 1793. Before her death, Antoinette attempted to escape France with the help of Captain Samuel Clough. She loaded Clough's ship with her most prized possessions, including six of her favorite long-haired cats. While Antoinette did not make it to the United States, her pets safely reached the shores of Wiscasset, Maine, where they bred with other short-haired breeds and evolved into the modern breed of the Maine Coon.<4>

Another folktale involves that of Captain Charles Coon, who kept a mass amount of long-haired cats aboard his ship to keep the rodent population under control. Whenever Coon's ship would anchor in the New England ports, the felines would exit the ship and mate with the local feral cat population, returning to the ship and giving birth months later. These new cats were named "Coon's cats". Like the Marie Antoinette fable, this story is highly unlikely and not much evidence has been found to support it, but the Maine State Library has a listing of a captain by the name of Coon.<5>

A theory which is biologically-based, albeit impossible, is the idea that the modern Maine Coon descended from ancestors of semi-feral domestic cats and raccoons. This could have possibly explained the most common color of the breed (brown tabby) and the bushy tail, which is a characteristic trait. Another idea is that the Maine Coon originated between the matings of domestic cats and wild bobcats, which could explain the tufts of hairs that are so commonly seen on the tips of the ears.<6> There have been reports of domestic cats breeding with bobcats.<7>

Many breeders believe that the Maine Coon is descended from the pairings of local short-haired domestic cats and long-haired breeds brought overseas by English seafarers (possibly by Captain Charles Coon) or 11th-century Vikings.<6> The connection to the Vikings is noted through the strong resemblance of the Maine Coon to that of the Norwegian Forest Cat, another breed which is said to be descendents of cats that traveled with the Vikings.<8>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_Coon

[emilyg]

38. Gorgeous.

[meow2u3]

31. A "Coon Cat" is a nickname for a Maine Coon

This was my Maine Coon, Sylvester. May he rest in peace at Rainbow Bridge. O8)

[peruban]

32. I was unaware that a breed of cat was called "coon cat"

But what I meant was a "raccoon/cat". And it looked nothing like your cat.

[SoxFan]

34. gentle giants

Maine Coons are big cats, with bushy tals, a long coat, and a ruff around the neck. They have very sweet dispositions, and are very talkative. Oddly, they tend to have funny little chirpy voices,

Brianna is part Maine Coon. She's got the fluff, she's a big girl, and she definitely has the chatty personality!

[old mark]

37. Maine Coon cats are a recognized breed, very large cat. nt