The lovely and popular Maine Coon.
Maine Coon cats regaining popularity; catteries popping up across country
KITCHENER, Ont. – It’s always surprising to sit in the elegant living room at the home of Ron and Dianne Lukas. The retired couple welcome their guest warmly and the conversation just starts to get cooking when suddenly, out of nearly every corner of the home, very large cats start to wander by. And by large … well, think of something that could easily devour a cockapoo dog with nary a slight burp.
But of course, these Maine Coon kitties would never dream of doing such a thing, given that they’re among the gentlest of the cat breeds – just big fluffy piles of mush really. Thank goodness…
Exactly how the breed came to be is a matter of legend, but one theory is that a few 19th-century European ships bound for New England brought along hefty Norwegian forest cats to control the rat population while at sea and of course there were several escapees who made it ashore. The term “coon” likely came from the genetically impossible belief that those early escapees somehow bred with raccoons and thus obtained their extraordinarily long and lush tails. Maine Coons are also famous for their tufted lynx-ears, which serve to make them look bigger and wilder than most domestic cats.
Wow. Amazing, and beautiful!
I’ve been thinking about what you said about California and taxes and just realized in order for me to be a loyal Tam member I can expect a large chunk of my hard earned memberbership fee to go to the socialist California government. Since this is the case I would like to take this time to encourage you to move to Montana which is freezing cold right now but has no sales taxes. Another option is to move to Congressman Chaffetz district. : ) It’s not as dumb an idea as you might think. What is the tax rate in Tijuana?
That is one good looking gatto. My neighbor has an orange-colored Maine Coon the size of a small house. BTW, what’s a “catterie?” Anything like a “cathouse?”
maine coons are the greatest cats-love bugs and full of personality and the only indigenous breed of cat to america- they’re the all american cat!. my maine coon mcdermot( name means ‘ free man’s son’) who passed on a few years back- everybody fell absolutely in love with him even people who didn’t particularly like cats. really gentle giants. and very dog like.
now i have a tortie siberian gal who has exactly the same maine coon personality – and big.they’re teddy bears. big racist teddy bears. they think siberians have some original cat dna- an aboriginal breed meaning closer to feral than interbred by humans. rather than breeding with washbears/raccoons ,maine coons are linked to siberians as are norwegian forest cats.
as it’s halloween soon maybe you should post some black cats too. they have among the lowest adoption rates in shelters- as do black dogs. if you’re on the left , logically then, this is because of cracker racism. for the rest of us it’s stupid ancient superstition. i have 2 all black rescues- one a stray from the aftermath of katrina . they are, like the tammy racist raccoon kerfuffle, a constant reminder to me of the cruelty and irresponsible stupidity of humans. if civil marriages become federal law i am totally marrying one of my cats.
I forgot the comment about your comments about Indian Tribes. Obama is hurting the Navajo tribe in Northern Arizona which owns a Coal mine and wants to build a second power plant. He is also hurting the Ute indian tribe in Northeastern Utah. Do you know what this supposedly environmentalist tribe does? They drill for Natural gas and oil. They rely on the revenue from 1000’s of gas and oil wells on their property. They even have an oil production company. Since Obama took office the drilling has died out overnight. Coincidentally this happened in November of last year. Also just a little story. When Brigham Young was governor of Utah he would actually buy the children of the indians from them and have other Mormons raise them and educate them. The reason he did this is because the noble natives of Utah where selling their own children into slavery in Mexico.
western europeans also have a history here of selling their own children to others- not uncommon on the frontier at all- too many mouths to feed etc. during the depression white americans sent train loads of their children off to farm country where some were ‘ adopted’- used as slave labor . the problem isn’t distinct to american indian culture- children and women in patriarchal cultures are commonly used as chattel- the possessions of men.
in the utah territories, indians were stealing children and women from OTHER TRIBES, not their own children, and selling them in mexico- something your comment overlooks. black and indian slavery were both legal under young.
it’s a a world wide issue we still struggle with today. in africa right now children are sold outright into sexual and slave labor. and i heard you can set up an underage el salvadorean brothel right here, right now. see acorn for details.
brigham young, the great liberator as opposed to godless child selling indians? the man had 55 wives, was a racist who though the penalty for ‘ mixing blood’ should be death. he had mormon militia disguise themselves as indians as they slaughtered the men, women and children in the fancher- barker wagon train- a massacre. they took those surviving children in too- how kind to murder their parents dressed as heathens then so kindly ‘ adopt’ the few survivors. the largest massacre indeed of indians men women and children in the US was aided, abetted by mormons.( bear river).
What you say is not exactly true. Yes the Fanchers where massacred by Mormons. But they acted on their own. Brigham Young had nothing to do with it. Brigham Young did have many wives and at least two of them ended up divorcing him even though he was both the spiritual and political leader of the whole Utah territory. They were not forced to marry him. One more fact . Brigham Young in the 1870’s was among the first to advocate womens suffrage. If Utah had been a state it would have been the first to enact womens suffrage. Brigham Young by our modern standards was a racist against blacks. There was a totally different culture in the 180o’s regarding Blacks in the whole country at the time. That does not excuse it but he was not out of line with mainstream thought of most of the country. Black slavery was not legal in Utah nor was indian slavery.
I was wrong. Slavery was legal for about 15 years in Utah. : ) There where about 26 slaves during one census but most where on their way to the socialist republic of California. The penalty for sexual relations with slaves was a $100o fine.
Brigham made his remarks, then, in the context of a civil war over the issue of slavery. Brigham condemned the white male (and perhaps priesthood holder) who “mixes” with black Africans. Why?
When would a white person “mix their seed” with the blacks? At the time, black slaves could not legally marry—this was a “human right,” and the slave-holding states were very careful not to let blacks marry, since to do so implied that they had human rights (and, if they have one right, why not a right to be free?) As a history of marriage in the United States noted:
The slaveholder’s callous lust—his moral violence as well as his physical cruelty—gave abolitionists their most effective theme. Sexual abuse of female slaves by rape, incest, forced mating, and concubinage figured even more sensationally in abolitionist literature than the sale of slave family members…”No part of the dark and hidden iniquities of slavery” deserved revelation more than its travesty of the “nuptial covenant” with “odious lusts,” the abolitionist George Bourne intoned, referring to the master’s unchecked freedom to use the bodies of his female slaves.
Ooops did I just give amunition to those against Prop 8? Oh no!! : )
Great cats! Have a black Main Coon/Rag Doll fuzzball named Bear, because as a kitten she had a head/mane that looked like a bear to me, hence the name stuck. She’s definitely a noisy, love magnet, opinionated squirrel. Always good for a laugh. Never a dull moment with her! Talk to her and she opens up a cacklely/chirpy dialogue with you!
Okey dokey – how about golden retrievers next time? Meow. WOOF.
Tammy, this could qualify as a “seperated at birth” kitty. My beloved cat Snickers was a mirror image of the cat in the picture, he passed a few years ago. BTW: We named him Snickers, because he loved to nibble on candy, espically snickers bars…
Snickers…hmmm…I’m thinking about getting Snoopy a kitten buddy!
I give up woman! Get Snoopy a golden retriever puppy 🙂
Maine Coons are great cats! Ollie was only 6 mos. old when his owners abandoned him at the animal hospital where I worked. They brought him in and never came back for him. After having him at the vet hospital for a while and not being able to get a home for him, I took him. My cat, Tessa, didn’t like him at all, so my mother gave him a home where he was happy as can be until he passed away last November at age 13.
Ollie was gorgeous! He looked similar to the cat in the post pic, but he was darker and had larger eyes. He was always so soft. Christmas last year wasn’t quite the same without him. He always loved running and jumping into Mom’s Christmas tree. RIP little Ollie. Mom gave him a present about 5 years ago with the addition of a feline brother (Spencer) and sister (Lucy). They miss him, too.
The Polydactyl Maine Coons were thought to be better “mousers” because of their extra digits, and when the splay their claws, it looks like an umbrella opening up! My polydactyl recently died of kidney failure, and it was quite a heartbreak for me. She had 8 toes on each front paw and 6 toes on each back paw.
Here’s a link to the history of Polydactyl Maine Coons: http://is.gd/4k47F
And yes, I noticed and appreciated the theme.
I’ve got a Blue Maine Coon named Dasher. He is spectacular. He is actually a Rock Star. He has long hair, he is pretty and he knows it, he loves the ladies, he’s a little bit dumb and he’s a little bit of an asshole…
I wouldn’t trade him for the world!
I have beautiful buff (yellow) Maine Coon named Yellowboy he’s the greateest cat sweet gentle & full
of it. He’s great mouser & my 88 year old mom’s best friend . Tammy thanks for featuring Maine Coons they are the greatest.
A book about the Maine Coon Cat was written by Alan Swenson in Kennebunk, Maine. should anyone care to know.