THE CENTURY-OLD MYSTERY OF WINGED CATS
Winged cats are a favorite motif across literature and art, from renaissance art to the children’s book series Catwings. Their reoccurring appearance leaves us to wonder: could winged cats actually exist? The solution may not be the resounding”no” you think it is…
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Is no stranger to the world of creature anomalies. With everything from bunny hairballs into unicorn goats and deer and two-headed cows, we’ve got real taxidermy specimens of several animal oddities. Beyond these, we have many examples of so-called gaff-taxidermy–taxidermy specimens which are fake but frequently exhibited as actual (think the jackalope). These cats make no appearance in our collection.
With an ancient history, where cats across millennia are depicted with wings in mythology, the contemporary sightings of cats with”wings” can be traced back at least 100 years. Among the first mentions of a cat is from Henry David Thoreau, who described a cat in 1842 at a farmhouse. According to Thoreau, the cat had appendages sprouting out of its body, but the author in his collection for a moment dropped off in the spring and retained them. Thoreau had no reason to believe the cat was capable of flight. Calling these appendages “wings” was just poetic. They were really clumps of fur.
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With an ancient history, where cats across millennia are depicted with wings in mythology, the contemporary sightings of cats with”wings” can be traced back at least 100 years. Among the first mentions of a cat is from Henry David Thoreau, who described a cat in 1842 at a farmhouse. According to Thoreau, the cat had appendages sprouting out of its body, but the author in his collection for a moment dropped off in the spring and retained them. Thoreau had no reason to believe the cat was capable of flight. Calling these appendages “wings” was just poetic. They were really clumps of fur.
Nevertheless, news of cats circulates the information cycle from time to time.
In 2008, papers reported a winged calico in China, and in 2012, the movie of a winged cat above seemed, with people in the movie touching and showing off its”wings.” There have been sightings of felines, reported by veterinarians and the general public. There are videos and photos of these, with pairs of sheets of fluff.
It has led some to speculate whether Thoreau’s observations were a coincidence. Many people have posted comments indicating crossbreeding or divine intervention to describe these animals, but bat or no bird could make hybrids. As specialists have a few guesses as to what can cause these growths, although, for order, nobody could say for sure.
When looking through images of cats that a large part of them are long-haired, you might notice. Some cats fight to groom themselves, particularly and the hair can become matted. Once the cat runs People can clip or brush mats of fur, which seem like wings out.
Another possibility is that a few of the cats may have a condition that makes their skin fragile and overly-elastic. This is known as cutaneous asthenia and is the feline equivalent of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. As a cat crouches, skin extends to form folds and can pack up behind her arms. Like wings, you might stretch out their skin flaps Sometimes.
The explanation is that the cat might have been born as a mutation or a twin that is partial, with limbs. If there was a kitten born with arms in the ideal spot, they may look like wings.
All be uncomfortable for the cat or of these conditions can damage. It is lucky that these beasts are rare.
Facts Check: Uber Fake