Maine Coon

The Maine Coon is probably one of the oldest natural North American breeds. Several legends describe the origins of the breed. The most widespread tells that the Maine Coon is the result of a cross between cats and raccoons (familiarly coon in English, abbreviated from raccoon), which would explain their color (the most widespread is brown tabby, i.e., brown striped) and their very fluffy tail. Of course, it is genetically impossible to achieve such a hybrid, but the breed retains from this legend its name. The second suggests that the Maine Coon is a descendant of six Angora cats sent by Marie-Antoinette of Austria while she was preparing her escape to avoid the French Revolution. These Angoras would have been brought on the Sally ship of Captain Samuel Clough of Wiscasset with the queen's other personal effects. The Angoras subsequently mixed with local farm cats to give birth to the Maine Coon. Another theory suggests that the breed developed from crosses between local farm cats and other long or semi-long haired cats first imported by the Vikings around 1000 AD. The Maine Coon would then descend from the Norwegian Forest cat, which would explain their resemblance. This hypothesis is supported by the resemblance between Turkish Van, Siberians, Norwegians and finally Maine Coons whose geographic origins correspond to Viking movements. This resemblance with the Norwegian can also be explained by the fact that the winter climate of New England and that of Norway are identical and would therefore have led to select the same physical specificities. In the 19th century, Mrs. Pierce, one of the first Maine Coon owners, also hypothesized that these cats arrived on the coast of Maine by sea, not thanks to the Vikings, but rather by wealthy families from Maine who then owned luxury boats and traveled a lot. They would have brought back many exotic pets from their expeditions, particularly to amuse children. Mrs. Pierce's second hypothesis was that Angora cats were boarded on merchant ships to hunt rats. In both cases, they would have disembarked on the East Coast and mixed with short-haired local cats. Another possibility is that they were imported by European immigrants and were able to adapt to the difficult living conditions and climate of the region.

Character traits are not described in the standards, they remain perfectly individual and are a function of each cat's history. According to the portrait of the official book of feline origins, the Maine Coon gets along well with everyone, even strangers and other animals, and would know how to be gentle with children according to the LOOF portrait. It is attached to its family and other animals, including dogs. In general, Maine Coons are known to be gentle giants, very affectionate and sweet. The Maine Coon is often described as close to its surroundings and can regularly seek the presence of household members. While being endearing, he remains a great player and hunter. Endowed with great intelligence, the Maine Coon behaves almost like a dog by retrieving its toys.

LOOF Standard (en) CFA Standard (en) ACF Standard (en) ACFA Standard (en) TICA Standard (en) FIFé Standard (en) 'Maine Coon', September 17, 2008 (version of January 22, 2009 on Internet Archive), (en) WCF (more recent page), 'Maine Coon (MCO)' [PDF], on wcf.de, December 8, 2021 (accessed August 7, 2023).