Friday, January 19, 2018

Hiking to the Live Oaks for sunset, I spotted another interesting feline

Cat-raccoon Hybrids - Mammalian Hybrids - Biology Dictionary

www.macroevolution.net/cat-raccoon-hybrids.html
This characteristic attains its greatest perfection in the tail which does not in the least remind one of acat's, but is as bushy and ornamental as a squirrel's—broad and waving and graceful. I am not well acquainted with the raccoon, though I have seen it alive; but it seems a remarkable and interesting circumstance that a
 ...Raccoons are about the same size as a domestic cat, though they are generally somewhat larger. And there are videos on YouTube (such as this one), documenting the fact that wild male raccoons will voluntarily mate with cats.
Cats have also been known to nurse baby raccoons (see video below). Under such circumstances, the baby coons would probably become imprinted on cats, so that they would be sexually attracted to cats when they reached maturity. (Imprinting is a widespread phenomenon in mammals and birds.)
cat
So there is no absolute physical or behavior barrier that separates the two. But the question of physiological compatibility remains. That is, is it possible to produce actual cat-raccoon hybrids? To date, it seems, the evidence is merely anecdotal.
What I spotted going over a fence on hike. 
The cat's big tail was lighter than that. Or
was it a Scottish Wildcat?

Or was it a Maine Coon Cat?
Dear Sir ; — your favor was received on Wednesday night and Thursday morning I went over to Taunton to see the cat. It is certainly a hybrid and I am very confident Mr. Dunbar is right in believing it to be a cross of the raccoon and cat. 1st. Its tail in markings and bushiness is strongly coon, as well as the markings of its fore and hind legs and paws. 2d. Its walking gait particularly in the handling of its hind legs is purely coon. 3d. Its disposition is astonishingly wild intermingled with tame. 4th. I understood Mr. Dunbar that his brother-in-law brought the creature from China, Maine, and was assured by the man of whom he obtained it, that it was an intentional hybrid of the coon and cat, and not accidental, which to my mind makes it much more probable. Mr. Dunbar promised to get the name of the original owner, and also to let me have the cat to stuff, if it should happen to die. He has also sent for a male hybrid, and if he gets it will inform me. This cat will soon have kittens, and as I am frequently in Taunton, I shall follow up the enquiry with interest. Thanking you for drawing my attention to the queer specimen, and promising to give you farther information as fast as I obtain any
I am, Yours respectfully,

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