Maine Coon breed history

Cats are well known to all and at the same time very mysterious creatures. In the world there are a huge number of breeds and varieties of these animals. The history of the origin of some of them is shrouded in mystery. For example, this is the largest Maine Coon breed to date. How did she come from, where did this name come from?

Animals of this breed are large, cats are much larger than cats. The average weight is from 8 to 10 kilograms. There are specimens weighing 12 kg. The length of the body from the nose to the tip of the tail is about 130 centimeters, and half the size is a luxurious, fluffy tail. The paws are 40-42 cm in height. However, with these sizes, the cats do not look massive and clumsy, they have a large head, a wide chest and a muscular body. These are born hunters.

Maine Coon wool has an interesting property - it hardly passes moisture, does not get wet. Moreover, it has different lengths: a chic “collar” on the neck, hind limbs are dressed in “fur pants”, on the back, sides and belly there is thick fur with undercoat, and the head and legs are covered with shorter hair. The shape of the paws resembles snowshoes - they are wide and powerful, wool grows between the fingers.

This breed has interesting ears, characteristic only for it - large, highly located on the head, with thick skin, covered inside with fur, and on the outside with dense hair. At the very tips there are brushes, like a lynx. All of these properties helped these cats survive and get food in the harsh places where they come from. The officially recognized homeland of Maine Coons is Maine, United States of America. Farmers specially bred cats to fight rodents that spoiled the grain.

It is believed that animals were actively domesticated about 150-200 years ago. As in any other business, competition between people and excitement arose here. Everyone wanted his cat to be larger than on a neighboring farm. Therefore, only the most outstanding individuals were left on the tribe. Thus, the breed gradually formed. Despite the rather impressive size, the character of the cats is calm, balanced. They are not aggressive, amenable to training. They become attached to their owners, get along well with children.

It is not possible to trace which species of cats were the ancestors of Maine Coons.

There are several legends about where this breed came from.

1. "Scandinavian footprint." It is assumed that the Vikings in the XI century sailed across the ocean, to the shores of the then still unknown America. Their ships were wooden; they stocked up food for a long period. Cats were taken with them to protect products from rats. Most likely, it was a Norwegian forest cat, large and shaggy, accustomed to difficult living conditions. When the ships docked, cats could run ashore and stay there.
2. "Royal History." According to another legend, the French Queen Marie Antoinette decided to leave her country and flee overseas. During secret preparations, things were loaded onto the ship and several favorites of the royal person - large fluffy cats. However, their mistress could not come to sail, and the pets went on a trip alone. On the new continent, animals went wild and began to live in the wild.
3. Prosaic. No romance, history, mysteries. Maine was at one time an important transportation hub. Ships from all over the world came into the ports, brought and took away a variety of goods. It goes without saying that for the safety of valuable goods, as in the old days, sailors took cats with them. While unloading or loading was in progress, the crew went ashore. Together with the sailors, the tailed youngs also set off. Some cats ran away and got used to new places.
4. Scientific. Currently, many scholars consider the Maine Coon breed to be aboriginal, originally living in the territory of the current state of Maine. With the beginning of colonization, Europeans began to develop and populate new lands. They arrived as whole families, brought with them pets, including cats. Meeting them with wild local cats and the emergence of a new species is required.
5. Ignorant, pseudoscientific. Even rather anecdotal. Actually, there are even two of them. According to the first, the Maine Coons went from crossing cats and raccoons (once they were even called the Manx raccoon cat). According to the second version, the lynx is to blame. Biologists explain that such interspecific reproduction is in principle impossible.
6. Fantastic. According to this legend, large beautiful animals lived on Atlantis. After the mysterious mainland disappeared, several surviving individuals came to America and multiplied there, some ended up on the territory of modern Russia and later became called Siberian.

Recently, the most popular version of the American origin of Maine Coons. It is believed that they belong to the local fauna and have always lived next door to people. Some in search of food could decide to get to know the person more closely. Strong and dexterous hunters helped farmers save crops from the invasion of mice, rats and other small rodents. They lived on the street, they got their own food. The owners did not care much about their appearance and amenities.

At local fairs in Maine, long-haired cats have appeared regularly since 1850, taking prizes. For the first time the breed is presented to the general public at the exhibition of 1861.A cat named Captain Jenks was shown, he is also considered the first Maine Coon to be officially recognized. The audience was delighted with the huge fluffy handsome.

The 1878 show in Boston was attended by 10 new breed representatives. Then in 1895, New York took over. However, the triumph was short-lived. By the end of the 19th century, fashion for Persian cats appeared in society, and the wild giants were forgotten for many decades. The cats returned to their usual business of hunting mice and rats on farmland.

In 1967, the standard for the breed was adopted, nurseries appear, and by 1980, about a thousand Maine Coon owners were registered in America. A new surge of interest in these animals begins, not only in the United States of America, but also in Europe, Russia and other parts of the world. Currently, the breed occupies a confident leading position in popularity.

In 1981, a cat named Charlie was brought from France to the United States. He is the founder of the French Maine Coon branch. Cats were introduced to the UK a little later - in the mid-80s, and now occupy second place in the ranking. In 1993, a souvenir coin with the image of Maine Coon was released in the kingdom. Animals very quickly spread throughout Europe, interest in them is constantly growing, hundreds of nurseries have been created specializing in breeding this breed.

Several Russian breeders immediately claim to be the first in opening American long-haired cats for our lovers. According to one version, Maine Coons were first imported from the Netherlands in 1992. With these two individuals, the breeding of a new breed in our country began. According to another, it happened in 1989, and cats came from America.

The third owner, Irina Guseva, claims that it is her animals (purchased in the late 1990s) that are the true representatives of the species. Subsequently, the breeder brought several more purebred individuals from the United States. Currently, the descendants of these cats are in great demand both in Russia and Belarus, as well as in Ukraine.

The first word in the name "Maine" is a slightly distorted name for the American state of Maine. The second part of “kun” is translated as “raccoon”. Several hypotheses about the appearance of the name follow from this. Here are some of them.

• Some owner of the ship, Captain Kun ("raccoon"), a big cat lover transported goods from Europe to America and back. Most often, his ship stopped at the ports of Maine. If there were too many tailed inhabitants, the captain distributed them to the inhabitants of coastal villages. When these people were asked where the cats came from, they replied that they were from a Raccoon (by last name or nickname of the captain).

• Young sailor Tom Kun, who served on one of the ships, during the stay sold kittens to a woman, the owner of a small farm in Maine. According to legend, it was she who became the first owner and breeder of Maine Coons.

For more information on the Maine Coon cat breed, see the next video.