Episode 166: The Domestic Cat
b"I just adopted two black cats, named Dracula and Poe, so let's learn about domestic cats! Thanks to RosyWindFox, Nicholas, Richard E., Kim, and an anonymous listener who all made suggestions and contributed to this episode in one way or another!\\n\\nFurther listening:\\n\\nWeird Dog Breeds - an unlocked Patreon episode\\n\\nTwo beautiful examples of domestic cats (Dracula on left, Poe on right, and it is really hard to photograph a black cat):\\n\\n \\n\\nThe African wildcat, ancestor of the domestic cat:\\n\\n \\n\\nThe blotched tabby (left) and regular tabby (right):\\n\\n \\n\\nA cat's toe pads (Poe's toes, in fact):\\n\\n\\n\\nThe big friendly Maine Coon cat:\\n\\n\\n\\nThe Norwegian forest cat SO FLUFFY:\\n\\n\\n\\nThe surprised-looking Singapura cat:\\n\\n\\n\\nThe hairless sphynx breed (with sweater):\\n\\n\\n\\nThe Madagascar forest cat:\\n\\n\\n\\nThe European wildcat:\\n\\n\\n\\nThis came across my feed today and it seemed appropriate, or inappropriately funny depending on your point of view:\\n\\n\\n\\nShow transcript:\\n\\nWelcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I\\u2019m your host, Kate Shaw.\\n\\nI had a different episode planned for this week, but then I adopted two cats, so this week\\u2019s episode is going to be about the domestic cat! It also happens to be a suggestion from RosyWindFox after we got to talking about podcasts and animals. Rosy also kindly sent me some research she had done about cats for a project of her own, which was a great help!\\n\\nBut Rosy isn\\u2019t the only listener who contributed to this episode. Nicholas suggested weird cats a while back, Richard E. suggested unusual cat breeds, and Kim suggested an episode about domestic cats as invasive species. And we have another suggestion by a listener who wants to remain anonymous about keeping exotic animals as pets, which I thought would fit in well after we talk about invasive species. We\\u2019ll also learn about some mystery cats while we\\u2019re at it. So buckle up for this big episode about little cats, and thanks to everyone who sent suggestions!\\n\\nWe don\\u2019t want to leave the dog lovers out so before we start talking about cats, back in June of 2019 patrons got an episode about strange dog breeds, also suggested by Nicholas. I\\u2019ve unlocked that episode so that anyone can listen. There\\u2019s a link in the show notes and you can just click the link and listen in your browser, no Patreon login required.\\n\\nSo, most people are familiar with the domestic cat, usually just called a cat. It\\u2019s different from the similar-sized felid called a wildcat because it\\u2019s actually domesticated. Even domestic cats that have never lived with a human are still part of a species shaped by domestication, so instead of wild cats, wild domestic cats are called feral cats.\\n\\nResearchers estimate that the domestic cat developed from a species of African wildcat about 10,000 years ago, or possibly as long as 12,000 years ago. This was around the time that many cultures in the Middle East were developing farming, and farming means you need to store grain. If you store grain, you attract mice and other rodents. And what animals famously like to catch and eat rodents? Cats! Wildcats started hanging around farms and houses to catch rodents, and since the humans didn\\u2019t want the rodents, they were fine with the cats. Farms that didn\\u2019t have any cats had more rodents eating their stored grain, so it was just a matter of time before humans made the next logical step and started taming wildcats so they could trade cats to people who needed them. Besides, wildcats are pretty animals with sleek fur, and if you\\u2019ve ever stood by the tiger exhibit in a zoo and wished you could pet a tiger, you will understand how your distant ancestors felt about wildcats.\\n\\nThe species of wildcat is Felis silvestris lybica, the African wildcat, which lives in northern Africa and Southwest Asia. It\\u2019s still alive today and looks so much like a domestic cat that it can be hard to tell the species apart, although the African wildcat has long legs and specific markings."