Key West Kitties

Kirk R. Brown, a garden communicator and speaker, shared these photos of the feral cats of Key West, Florida: "On my recent visit, the Ernest Hemingway House showed off its 58 movie star cats. They are indifferent to tourists. Of course. But each is a master or mistress of capturing the attention of anyone passing by. All of them carry the polydactyl (extra-toes) gene. Some are deeper in the pool than others."

   "The guide told us that this orange tabby (pictured below) was the dominant cat of the collection. Polydactyl by breeding not by name. And cleaning as we watched."

   "Most have been neutered or spayed. They say they allow only one litter per generation. (Obviously, at some time in the past, they were less concerned about overpopulation.) in this current generation, they are excited about breeding an obvious polydactyl male with a similar female. They are selecting for this recessive. I don't know if there are any other genetic side effects to this appearance, like kidney or liver problems or chronic people avoidance..."