Cat and Ram are pals (photo)

A reader photography contest at National Geographic yields this photograph by Sarah Deutsch, of "a magical moment of love between a cat and a ram." If interspecies love is not your thing, try this trio of dancing ostriches.

(thanks, Marilyn Terrell)

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

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I’ll take the ostriches, for both the leg *and* the smile.
Preston Sturges

Is it calico cats that are especially friendly to other animals such as dogs?
- Ito Kagehisa
  
  Calicos are like a whole separate species. I’ve had a couple hundred cats, and calicos are not for everyone. I like ‘em though. Ours hangs out with a groundhog sometimes.
  
  The first time I took our calico to the vet for a shot, the vet tech put on shoulder-length metal-studded horsehide gloves. I said “Is that really necessary?” and she looked at me like I was crazy and said “She’s a calico.” I had no idea they were legendarily eccentric till then.
  
  The same cat runs to the nearest window if fireworks or guns go off outside and growls.
  - sarahnocal
    
    Aren’t all calico cats female?
    - Mark Dow
      
      “Because genetic determination of some coat colors in cats is linked to the X chromosome, calicoes are nearly always female.”
      
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calico_cat
    - Ito Kagehisa
      
      Calico and tortoise-shell cats are usually female, and orange tabbies are usually male. Calicoes are piebald tortoiseshells, and both calicoes and torties are chimera, genetic mosaics with different DNA in different parts of their bodies.
      
      http://www.bio.miami.edu/dana/dox/calico.html
      
      The rare male calico is usually a double-X chromosome; I don’t know what the deal is with the rare orange tabby female.
      
      Anecdotally, there are personality/behaviour trends that go along with the fur color. Orange tabbies (or marmalade cats if you prefer) are supposed to be outgoing, friendly, and smarter than you think. Calico cats are supposed to be flighty and highly eccentric. Mine loves water and will lay in the sink purring with water dripping on her.
      - Dr Boom
        
        Orange female tabbies aren’t all that rare (I’m currently on my second), although it’s a common misconception that they are due to the toroiseshell/calico genetics. For a male cat to be tortoiseshell/calico, he would have to be XXY which is a fairly significant chromosomal abnormality (equivalent to Klinefelter’s Syndrome in humans). An orange female just has to have an orange allele on each of her two X chromosomes, which she could pick up from having an orange father and an orange or tortoiseshell/calico mother
      - Culturedropout
        
        As a resident crazy cat guy, I’d have to agree. Orange tabbies (5 of whom I’ve had the pleasure to share my life with, all male) seem to be more mellow and quite a bit more intelligent than the average cat. They’ve always been the ones who figured out things like doorknobs, cabinet doors, and light switches, and consequently get into everything. They also all seem to love belly rubs and will fall over at the slightest chance of getting one. And they tend to be the ones who run to the windows and growl when the UPS truck or the garbage truck pulls into the driveway. Calico cats (4 of those, all females) seem to be very particular about when and how you pay attention to them, and will mess with you by doing things like really, REALLY wanting you to open a door for them and then looking at you like you’re a moron and walking away. Grey tabbies (two of those, both female) in my experience are quite a bit more jumpy and tend to hide whenever anything scary happens. Then there was “Psycho” the male grey tabby who was very friendly and would roll over and squirm around for a belly rub, and then dig all his claws into your hand and start gnawing on it – hence the name. But in general, I’ve never met a cat I didn’t like. (And the picture with the cat and whatever that other critter turns out to be is really cute… :-)
  - http://www.zhrodague.net/ Drew from Zhrodague
    
    Huh, I’ve never heard that calico cats are mean. Mine does ‘bark’ at birdies outside, but generally runs away if unfamiliar people come into the house.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/drewzhrodague/6924715003/
    - Ito Kagehisa
      
      Not necessarily mean, but very unpredictable, according to the vets. Ours is quite a character.
http://twitter.com/AntiBoredomTeam Dan Century

Awww… fluffy love buddies!
snailspace

I hate to be pedantic, but… that’s not a ram. A ram is a male sheep. That’s a goat. Could be a billy (or buck) but from the smaller horns I suspect it might be a nanny (or doe). You could stretch a point and title it Kid and Kitty, maybe.

ETA: according to the amazingly high number of goat farmers online at BoingBoing, it’s actually a sheep – a horned, hairy, lop-eared sheep, but a sheep. You and NatGeo were right the first time!
- http://www.xeni.net/ Xeni Jardin
  
  I think you’re right. I was confused because NatGeo captioned it as a ram.
  - sarahnocal
    
    You were right the first time..it is a sheep. I raise both sheep and goats and this is a sheep. Not sure if it’s a ram, but it’s definitely a sheep.
    - snailspace
      
      How can you tell? I was going by the hair-not-wool appearance of its coat. With some more Googling, I’m did indeed get pictures of Senegalese sheep that are the goatiest-looking-sheep I’ve ever seen, so you may well be right. But I have no idea how you can tell the difference without looking at the tails.
      - sarahnocal
        
        Well mostly because I raise sheep and goats I know what they look like.
        But if it helps, their horns are different, their noses are different, their eyes are different, they just have a really different look that I can see even if you can’t.
      - snailspace
        
        @boingboing-6195d11132f279cc38f44534a277b3ea:disqus Huh. Learn something new every day! I stand corrected. Where else would two different goat farmers be commenting on a cute kitty photo? :)
rocketjam

More signs the end is near! A familiar sucking up to Baphomet himself! Repent!
Farmer Fin

Sorry, but that is indeed a ram, or at least a sheep. Certainly not a goat. I should know – I’m a goat farmer!
- jimh
  
  My favorite off-color joke (told to me by a female bartender with great effect):
  
  Q: What’s the difference between a goat and a ram?
  A: Well, I can’t GOAT my d*ck in your a$$!
- twianto
  
  I say change it to “animal and animal.” Or maybe “creature and creature.” Should cover all bases. Who knows if the cat really is a cat anyway?
videobored

Goats and cats living together… MASS HYSTERIA!!!
- Preston Sturges
  
  Word is they’ve made an offer on a tiny house.
- malindrome
  
  Came for the Ghostbusters reference, left satisfied.
Maria Pranzo

Of course interspecies love is our thing. Why else would we be here?
Lyle Hopwood

Matthew says that when Jesus comes he’ll separate the sheep from the goats. This is obviously a rarer talent than I’d previously supposed.
http://northierthanthou.com/ northierthanthou

The cat is cute!
pjcamp

Awwwwww! Horny old goat likes pussy.
Neural Kernel

It isn’t nearly as cute if you consider why cats rub against stuff…