From Wild to Mostly Cuddly: How Cats Were Domesticated
From Wild to Mostly Cuddly: How Cats Were Domesticated October 18, 2024 Michelle Milliken Adobe Stock / T.Den_Team Late October features many people’s favorite holiday. Not Halloween. National Cat Day! National Cat Day is observed on October 29. It celebrates our feline friends but also reminds us that many still need forever homes. In honor of the occasion, learn more about how cats found homes with humans in the first place... and how you can help those still waiting in shelters. Playlist advancing in 5 seconds Ad ends in 5 Video Unpaused Early Domestication Today’s domestic cats descended from a North African wildcat species known as Felis silvestris lybica . These forebears first started popping up around human settlements in the Fertile Crescent 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. They were likely drawn to these early agricultural settlements due to something else that was drawn to them: Mice. Photo: Pixabay / rihaij It’s believed that wildcats served as pest control, which helped protec...
