What makes ginger cats so adventurous?

What’s with the ginger cats? An Essex cat behavior expert explains why ginger felines seem more confident and friendly than other cats. Could it be a lick of Viking blood?

The purring hospital orderly. The train station and regular supermarket. If there’s a cat hanging around a public space wanting affection from a stranger, it’s probably a ginger cat.

Homeowners often apologize to neighbors for feline acts of trespassing or theft.

Biologist and cat behaviorist Roger Tabor, from Brightlingsea, Essex, says the “archetype of the ‘big old ginger’ is the classic cat next door” and his behavior could be down to the Vikings.

“The scientific consensus is that there are some temperament differences between breeds, such as the lively Burmese or the placid Persians, but not differences in color,” he said.

“However, studies of owner perceptions tell a different story, with tabby and gray cats being ‘aloof’ and the ginger cat being seen as ‘friendlier and more affectionate’.”

“To be a ginger cat, a female cat needs to inherit two copies of the ginger gene, but males only need to inherit one,” explains Mr. Tabor.

“Measurements have also shown that generally red-haired males are heavier than most cats of other colors. Red-haired males tend to be taller and broader than most other moggies – except the northern Maine Coon. American.”

So, could his size and apparent fearlessness be the reasons behind this extroverted behavior?

Cute red-haired Tom Henry has long been a favorite with staff and patients at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.

Despite having loving owners nearby, he chose to wander the hallways and cafeteria, seemingly happy to be petted as long as his nap isn’t interrupted.

He was credited with calming staff and patients just by his presence – and over the years, hospital bosses learned to tolerate the intrepid intruder.

Another ginger cat who appears to seek human companionship – and in the busiest of places – is Nala, a cat who greets passengers daily at Stevenage railway station in Hertfordshire.

Named by her owner’s children after the lioness who befriended Simba in the Disney classic The Lion King, Nala is actually a tom.

Most owners have come to embrace their feline’s sense of fun, but one person who is still coming to terms with it is Sydney Reid, owner of ginger cat Ernie in Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire.

“Ernie is a total menace, we’ve had a pure white, a pure black, a tabby, a tuxedo – and Ernie – and he’s the one causing these problems in the neighborhood – what’s with the ginger cats?” she said.

Reid said Ernie became a bit of a burly fellow after “breaking and entering” other homes to steal food, for which she apologized.

“A neighbor once knocked on our door to let us know that he had taken a whole roast chicken from the kitchen and through the kitchen window.”

When it comes to getting food – and company – some cats know the right places to go and many tend to frequent supermarkets.

Mischievous and moggy Pumpkin ignored staff who tried to “ban” him from his local branch of Tesco near Norwich.

In Ely, Cambridgeshire, the ginger cat Garfield became so popular with Sainsbury’s shoppers that, after his death, a eulogy was held in the town’s cathedral and a bronze monument erected to his memory.

Three-legged redhead Tom Jasper rose to fame in 2017 after his owner began taking him to work at Cambridge University’s Marshall Library of Economics.

Their “tea with Jasper” events proved incredibly popular with students who found meeting the cat helped reduce exam stress.

“Meet Jasper” events still take place at the library.

And not to be outdone, the University of East Anglia in Norwich has its own bookworm, Sylvester.

Sylvester often roams the campus grounds and buildings, and this intelligent kitten regularly attends lectures or can be found sleeping at the library information desk.

Like many of these sociable types, he also has his own Facebook group, where students and staff proudly post photos of their encounters with him.

“The perception that redheads are friendlier and more trusting around people may make them less fearful of wandering onto sidewalks and roads,” said cat expert Mr. Tabor.

This outgoing nature may be one reason ginger cats were apparently so popular among Vikings, he said.

“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 in places where there were Viking settlements in Europe and the United Kingdom.

“He believed that Vikings transported ginger cats from Turkey and the Black Sea to Scandinavia and their settlements in Britain.

“York, once a Viking stronghold, still has a larger population of ginger cats than London.”

He added: “The Vikings may have just liked the distinctive fur, but I would suggest that the perceived friendly and less fearful nature of the ginger cat could be the reason it boldly entered their ships.

“Ginger cats themselves could be said to have a Viking disposition, friendly to people they get along with but fierce to opposing cats.”