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There’s an city legend that claims the majestic Maine Coon got here from the cross of a Norwegian cat and a raccoon. This fantasy is probably going as a result of the truth that the Maine Coon is a large feline with distinctive markings which might be considerably paying homage to a raccoon’s stripes. But whereas it’s true that cats and raccoons can typically cross paths, particularly in city and suburban areas, these encounters don’t finish in tiny “cat-coon” or “rac-cat” infants. Cats and raccoons can not mate and reproduce—irrespective of how lovable such offspring can be!
Let’s take a more in-depth have a look at why some species can efficiently interbreed and why this isn’t the case with cats and raccoons. There are additionally nice tips about retaining your feline good friend secure in the event that they enterprise exterior.
Can Two Different Species Mate?
It’s not that frequent within the wild, however two completely different however associated species can certainly reproduce. This course of known as hybridization, and it could possibly occur in each animals and vegetation. When two completely different species mate efficiently, their offspring known as a hybrid. Most of the time, hybrids are sterile, that means they’ll’t have infants (although this isn’t all the time the case).
That stated, scientists don’t all agree on how you can outline species. The “Biological Species Concept” is usually used to separate completely different animals and vegetation into numerous species. According to this precept, animals that can’t breed collectively or that may breed however produce sterile offspring are categorized as completely different species.
Some scientists classify species based mostly on notable bodily and environmental variations—for instance, variations in coloration, conduct, habitat, or geographic location. Other scientists use genetic variations, that are sections of DNA containing small variations known as mutations. Typically, members of various species are unable to breed as a result of these genetic boundaries. Indeed, that is the very definition of the time period “species,” which comes again to the Biological Species Concept; two animals incapable of reproducing are categorized as two completely different species.
Image Credit: Tony Campbell, Shutterstock
Are All Hybrids Sterile?
While it’s true that almost all hybrids are unable to breed, there are situations the place hybrids can have infants. This happens when a hybrid mates with one other hybrid or with a member of the identical species as one in every of its dad and mom. For instance, when a male lion and a feminine tiger hybridize, they produce a liger. 90% of male ligers are sterile however many of the feminine ligers are fertile and might be efficiently bred again to a tiger or a lion.
Interestingly, in accordance with the authors of an article revealed within the journal Frontiers, the existence of fertile hybrids poses a sure scientific problem, because it contradicts a basic precept of the Biological Species Concept, which means that two distinct species shouldn’t be able to mating and producing fertile infants. However, this doesn’t indicate that the dad and mom of hybrids are usually not distinct species; moderately, it highlights that the idea of ‘biological species’ might not apply to all species.
So, Why Can’t Cats and Raccoons Mate?
You might have heard that cats and raccoons can typically mate, however these claims are usually not supported by any credible proof. Scientifically, there are not any documented circumstances of profitable interspecies breeding between these two animals.
Cats and raccoons belong to distinct households throughout the order Carnivora. Indeed, cats are a part of the Felidae household, whereas raccoons are categorized within the Procyonidae household. If we have a look at the liger, which has a tiger mom and a lion father, we are able to see that regardless that they’re completely different species, they belong to the identical genus, Panthera, which explains their interbreeding success. This is just not the case for raccoons and cats.
How to Keep Your Cat Safe Outdoors
Image Credit: Viktor Sergeevich, Shutterstock
Although cats and raccoons can not mate, they do typically cross paths within the wild, significantly in areas the place human growth encroaches upon pure habitats. These interactions can result in a wide range of outcomes, a few of which may pose dangers to your cat. Rabies, for instance, is a big concern, and raccoons are identified carriers of this lethal virus. If your cat will get right into a battle with a raccoon, there’s a probability of illness transmission by bites or scratches.
Considering the potential dangers posed by interactions with raccoons and different wildlife, it’s important to take measures to make sure your cat’s security after they enterprise exterior.
Here are a number of useful suggestions:
- Monitor their time spent open air. If attainable, attempt to supervise your cat’s comings and goings. To preserve them really secure, construct a safe out of doors enclosure, generally known as a catio, to offer a secure out of doors house in your cat with out exposing them to the hazards of wildlife.
- Keep your cat in your own home at night time. Since raccoons are primarily nocturnal creatures, it’s best to maintain your cat indoors within the evenings and at night time.
- Make positive your cat’s vaccinations are updated. This is very vital for ailments like rabies.
- Microchip your cat, and get them a collar with an identification tag. If they get misplaced or injured, this may enhance the possibilities of their secure return.
- Spay or neuter your cat. Besides the assorted well being advantages of those procedures, spaying or neutering your pet will significantly scale back their need to roam and get into hassle. It will even scale back infections which might be sexually transmitted corresponding to Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (the cat model of HIV).
Bottom Line
Although interspecies breeding is technically attainable and might even lead to fertile hybrids like ligers, there isn’t any scientific information proving that such a relationship can happen between a raccoon and a cat. That stated, the dangers linked to random encounters between these two species are very actual, such because the transmission of contagious ailments or the chance of damage within the occasion of a battle.
Therefore, when you let your cat roam freely exterior, be certain that to observe their comings and goings as a lot as attainable, and above all, be certain that their vaccinations are updated. Don’t attempt to entice raccoons to your house simply because they appear lovable and innocent!
Sources
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15463618/
- https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/genetic-mutation-1127/#:~:text=Genetic%20mutation%20is%20the%20basis,beetles%2C%20or%20any%20other%20organism.&text=Mutations%20are%20changes%20in%20the,can%20have%20widely%20differing%20consequences
- https://daily.jstor.org/the-surprising-frequency-of-interspecies-mating/
- https://academic.oup.com/book/41948/chapter-abstract/355151499?redirectedFrom=fulltext
- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/ligers-zorses-pizzlies-how-animal-hybrids-happen
- https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2019.00113
- https://evolution.berkeley.edu/biological-species-concept/
Featured Image Credit: Corina Muresan, Shutterstock
The publish Can Cats and Raccoons Mate? Vet-Approved Facts & FAQ by Genevieve Dugal appeared first on Catster. Copying over total articles infringes on copyright legal guidelines. You might not be conscious of it, however all of those articles had been assigned, contracted and paid for, so they don’t seem to be thought-about public area. However, we admire that you simply just like the article and would find it irresistible when you continued sharing simply the primary paragraph of an article, then linking out to the remainder of the piece on Catster.com.
