Maine Coon Legends

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There are two Maine Coon legends that I know of. There are probably more.

The first is that the breed started when a raccoon mated with a domestic cat. This probably came about because of the large size of the Maine Coon and the ringed tail.

The other less outrageous Maine Coon legend is that the beginning of this breed was the mating of an American Bobcat with a domestic cat.

The latter is possible it seems but the former, positively, is not possible. Both are false. It is almost certain that the breed started with the importation of English moggies as ships cats with the first immigrants from Europe in the early 1600s.

Polydactyl long haired cats from England were often ships cats as sailors thought that the extra toes helped with stability on deck and in catching rodents. See Tootsie a polydactyl Maine Coon.

See Maine Coon History

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