Why Are Ginger Cats So Adventurous?

May 8

May 8 Why Are Ginger Cats So Adventurous?

Animals, Animal Companions, Human Interest

There is something about ginger cats. They tend to be more confident, more outgoing, and generally more cheeky – especially the toms. BBC News asked biologist and cat behavior expert Roger Tabor if there was a reason for ginger adventurousness.

“The scientific consensus has been, there are some breed temperament differences, such as lively Burmese or placid Persians, but not differences on color,” Tabor says. “However, studies of owners’ perceptions tell a different story, with calico and gray cats being ‘aloof’ and the ginger cat being seen as ‘friendlier and more affectionate.’”

We know that ginger cats were especially popular with Vikings, as evinced by the trail of DNA – the presence of the ginger gene in areas where Vikings settled."This was proposed by Neil B. Todd almost 50 years ago in Scientific American, where he mapped the strong presence of the feline ginger gene on places that had Viking settlement in Europe and the UK.”

Todd noted that Vikings brought ginger cats from Turkey and the Black Sea, back to Scandinavia and their settlements in Britain. “York, once a Viking stronghold, still has a higher population of ginger cats than London,” Tabor explains: “Vikings may just have liked the distinctive fur, but I would suggest that the perceived friendly, less-fearful nature of the ginger cat could be why it boldly strolled onto their boats.”

The BBC cites a few of the bold and friendly gingers that have invaded public places in Britain. There’s the tom named Henry, a longtime favorite with staff and patients at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge. And Nala, a ginger who can be found every weekday, perched on the turnstiles at Stevenage railway station in Hertfordshire, greeting commuters. In Ely, the late Garfield (aka “Garfy”) was so popular with Sainsbury's shoppers that after his death, he was eulogized at the city cathedral and a brass monument was erected in his memory.

Tabor says the sociability can be attributed to the gingers’ “Viking disposition: friendly to people they get on with, but fierce with opponent tom cats.”