I love cats but ....

[packman]

?1425394297

More photos of Cat Island (Aoshima) at:

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2015/03/a-visit-to-aoshima-a-cat-island-in-japan/386647/

[Sanity Claws]

1. Looks like a limited gene pool

Lots of ginger tabbies and brown tabbies but no solid black cats and only one tuxedo.

[TeapotInATempest]

4. I noticed that, too.

And they all have very similar-looking faces.

[RKP5637]

9. Yep!!!

"Aoshima Island is one of about a dozen "cat islands" around Japan, small places where there are significantly more feline residents than people. In Aoshima more than a hundred cats prowl the island, curling up in abandoned houses or strutting about in the quiet fishing village. Cats outnumber humans six to one on the island."

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

14. Tabby is the default cat pattern.

If cats are left to breed freely, after awhile the basic tabby gene will dominate and eventually everybody will be tabby. The domestic cat's ancestor is the African wildcat, which has the same tabby markings:

[Island Blue]

28. That cat

reminds me of a cat that some friends of mine used to have - they got him when they lived in Saudi Arabia.

[moriah]

32. Those markings seem definitely like what...

... could have evolved into the various types of tabby markings in domestic cats. Not quite the full "mackerel", plus some things I could see developing into the other "classical", "spotted", and "ticked" patterns...

But at first glance one would see that cat and try to pet it. Bad idea probably!

[femmocrat]

2. Reminds me of a Laurel Burch painting:

[TeapotInATempest]

3. Looks like my house when I open a can!

(Ok, not really. We don't have quite that many.)

[RKP5637]

7. LOL

[democratisphere]

5. Back the cat food truck up.

Holy Vet Bills!

[MFM008]

6. They need

Fresh blood!

[procon]

12. No, they need a spay/neuter, and adoption program. nt

[TexasBushwhacker]

22. YES! n/t

[Throck]

8. Apparently they voted the dog off the island.

Last seen dog paddling east.

[irisblue]

10. Gingers & Tabbies rule there.

[procon]

11. Is there any spay/neuter program to help improve the lives of the cats in the feral colony? nt

[KT2000]

13. and they get along!

I can't get 3 cats to get along!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. Obviously they get along very well

if you get my drift..

[KT2000]

17. You mean -

they fall in love often!!

[Danmel]

26. Three is a bad number

Always an odd cat out.

[KT2000]

30. actually - it is one inside cat

and two that go outside and sleep in a separate room. Inside cat hates the outside cats.
You are right about 3, especially with people too.

[Doreen]

16. Do they provide veterinary care?

[geardaddy]

18. Is this where Wanda Gag got her inspiration for "Millions of Cats?"

[Yavin4]

19. There's one with some sort of collar on

What's going on there?

[geardaddy]

20. He's the town snitch.

[First Speaker]

21. Cats cause Global Warming...

...I fully expect to see a peer-reviewed paper on this subject any day now...

[Laffy Kat]

23. Not much coat diversity.

I'd love to visit. I wonder if they're neutered. The article doesn't mention it. Usually a spay/neutered feral puddy-put would have a notched ear. Would love to visit.

[LisaL]

24. They are not all neutered.

If they were neutered, there wouldn't be so many cats.

[Laffy Kat]

27. That can't be healthy, although they look pretty good. nt

[Ms. Toad]

31. The one bum I saw clearly was not neutered. n/t

[NNadir]

25. Every day I inform my cat that "nobody likes cats." Having a brain the size of a walnut, she...

...takes this to mean she is about to be petted, and usually she's right.

[Island Blue]

29. The calico in the middle

has a collar on. That’s interesting.