Maine Coon Cat

Maine Coons, like American Shorthairs, are considered native to America because they've been on this continent since the colonial days, and perhaps longer. How they got here in the first place and where their progenitors came from, however, is anyone's guess, since none of the local colonists happened by with their camcorders to record the event.

Many imaginative stories exist about the origin of the breed (some more believable than others), but hard proof is as elusive as a cat at bathtime. One story alleges that the breed is a raccoon/domestic cat hybrid, thus the name Maine Coon. Even though both raccoons and Maine Coons have lush, long tails and the tendency to dunk their food into their drinking water, such a union is biologically impossible.

Another anecdote, unlikely but at least possible, holds that the Maine Coon was produced by bobcat/domestic cat trysts, which would explain the ear and toe tufts and the impressive size of the breed.

A more imaginative story claims that Maine Coons are descendants of long haired cats belonging to Marie Antoinette. The Queen's cats and other belongings were smuggled to America by a captain named Clough, who was preparing to rescue the Queen from her rendezvous with the guillotine. Unfortunately, the Queen lost her head and the cats ended up staying with Clough in Maine.

Last, but not least, is the tale of a sea captain named Coon who in the 1700s brought long haired cats with him on his excursions to America?s northeastern coast.

This last story has at least a ring of truth. Seafarers who used cats to control rodent populations on their sailing ships probably brought some long haired buccaneers with them to the New World. Some of the cats went ashore when they reached the northeastern coast and established themselves on the farms and in the barns of the early settlers. Given Maine's severe climate, those initial years must have been tough on cat and human alike. Only the breed's strongest and most adaptable survived. Through natural selection, the Maine Coon developed into a large, rugged cat with a dense, water-resistant coat and a hardy constitution.

Regardless of where the breed came from, the Maine Coon was one of the first breeds to be recognized by the late nineteenth-century cat fancy, and became an early favorite. Mr. F. R. Pierce, who owned Maine Coons as early as 1861, noted in The Book of the Cat that a tabby Maine Coon named Leo was awarded Best Cat in the New York City cat show of 1895 and was a consistent winner in Boston in 1897, 1898, and 1899.

However, in the early 1900s, as new and more exotic breeds were imported into the country, the cat fanciers of the era abandoned Maine Coons for Persians, Angoras, and other imports. By 1950 the breed had all but vanished.

Fortunately, a small group of breeders kept this undercat from going under. Breeders held Maine Coon-only cat shows and in 1968 breeders founded the Maine Coon Breeders and Fanciers Association. The associations that had snubbed the Maine Coon accepted them for Championship competition again and today the Maine Coon has regained its former popularity.