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ZebraCat & Ghost Pony From The Past [Photos]

henry

henry

still speeding
Joined
Oct 23, 2005
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Just into the new year fortean daughter and i spent a great week in a log cabin with stables on offas dyke ... while there on one of our walks we spotted what at first looked like a fox with zebra colouring crossing the lane ahead of us ... a zebrafox ! it darted off into a hedge pretty quick but we were able to keep it somewhat in eyeshot for a spell and although it was at some distance and obscured by foliage it seemed to actually be a big domestic cat with black and white colouring ... less interesting at a distance than it had first seemed and 2 photos were indistinct and mundane otherwise i might have posted back then

so in the interim daughter is now regularly attending these stables as she goes through a horse phase ... and yesterday on my trip up to the place in the car i got a clear view of the zebracat once more on the same stretch of lane ... and i have to say i have never seen a cat like it unfortunately however it evaded my camera phone ... it was a big full-grown feller with thick even vertical stripes across the body and rear ... i have googled and the ones ive seen at a glance look like photoshops ...

i know there are a few cat people on here ... anyone have an insight into whether this was a real live zebracat ... or in fact just a cat
 
Tasmanian Cat, perhaps? A new strain?
 
Are the white parts pure, bright white or just lighter? Silver tabbies can have quite a stark contrast between the black striped and the silver grey background. Mammal's colour producing cells spread from the spine in the embryo so anomalies like chimeras and somatic blips can present as bands of different colour around the body.
 
think vertical even widths of pure white and black black
 
i will dig out my two photos from early in the year although they were unimpressive
 
Perhaps it was a Maine Coon or a Norwegian Forest cat. Both are very large domestic cats and are found in a range of colours.
 
Would be interesting to see pics, it does sound like a chimera (a black cat and a white cat welded together) or a somatic blip (i.e. some sections of the spine did not release pigment cells, or released pigment cells that don't work, during development).
 
found then ... from 3/1/2013 just uploading not particularly impressive but you can certainly see the zebracab effect on the third
 
Can't see anything in pic number 2.
 
me neither i am guessing he was behind the shrubbery ...
 
HenryFort said:
me neither i am guessing he was behind the shrubbery ...
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So...why post that pic? :lol:
 
Looks like a house cat. We have one that looks similar. We call him Lefty.
 
Mythopoeika said:
HenryFort said:
me neither i am guessing he was behind the shrubbery ...
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So...why post that pic? :lol:
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finally evidence of teleportation

Old_Shoe said:
Looks like a house cat. We have one that looks similar. We call him Lefty.
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yes i think he is a house cat and even though these photos are unstriking in the flesh he is something else ... we are next due there on 12th october ... might embark upon a minor CZ hunt ... http://goo.gl/maps/4jGC2
 
I know the photos aren't that clear, but he looks to me like a large black and white BSH tomcat with freakish markings.
All domestic cats have tabby just below the surface, and in the fur of black, grey, blacknwhite and greynwhites you can see tabby ghost prints in the right light. I have seen a grey and white before with a stripey effect, simlar but not as striking as this one seems to be. I also had a black and white cat myself with a large, near perfect black circle on a white background on her back. I currently have a tabby and white with a completely white underside except for a near perfect tabby circle slightly to the left of centre on his chest.
In the infinate genetic variables of colour markings, a zebra cat is indeed perfectly possible, but pretty spectacular all the same. I'd love to see more pics if you manage to get some :)
 
Eve11 said:
I know the photos aren't that clear, but he looks to me like a large black and white BSH tomcat with freakish markings.
All domestic cats have tabby just below the surface, and in the fur of black, grey, blacknwhite and greynwhites you can see tabby ghost prints in the right light. I have seen a grey and white before with a stripey effect, simlar but not as striking as this one seems to be. I also had a black and white cat myself with a large, near perfect black circle on a white background on her back. I currently have a tabby and white with a completely white underside except for a near perfect tabby circle slightly to the left of centre on his chest.
In the infinate genetic variables of colour markings, a zebra cat is indeed perfectly possible, but pretty spectacular all the same. I'd love to see more pics if you manage to get some :)
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This appears quite true. I noticed in New Zealand nearly all the black cats I have seen have very faint but observable parallell stripes on their heads running from the brow down the back on the head. This to me suggests a common tabby ancestor - maybe one of the first cats to arrive in New Zealand.
 
While white markings do tend to have pattern tendencies there are some which can look a little unusual, though I can't really see anything odd from the photos, just looks like the colour had spread down the sides in bars, and I don't think BSH, more like DSH.
As for tabby all cats have a genetic tabby pattern, it is inherited separately from their agouti (ticked pattern) status which is why you can still see the pattern on a black cat and sometimes even as texture differences on white cats. The addition of an agouti ticked coat allows you to see the tabby pattern more clearly.
 
just to say we are in position on our crypto-z expedition but so far no sightings ...
 
update : we drew a blank this weekend just gone although we got a very interesting photo of a ghost pony from the past which i will hopefully be able to post soon

next zebracat crypto-z expedition day is 26/10/2013
 
nothing from the 26th but we did have a zebracat sighting this evening ! with photo ... to follow !
 
Get on with it then!

;)

Being a horse lover, I'd really like to see the ghost pony as well (hint hint ;) )
 
yes sorry will try and post later ... we are there again today and i intend to ask around also
 
I can't see anything in the first two pics either but that cat in the third doesn't actually look striped at all, they look like slightly narrower than usual patches.
 
behold "fingers" the zebracat



2014-05-24_09-59-31_927_zps5709ed1f.jpg
 
apparently the cat is called fingers, as the marking look like fingers down either side of his back ... used to belong to the lady who runs the stables but has been wild for more than a dozen years and is fairly antisocial ... came from a litter of oddly coloured cats (all black with ginger ears, etc)
 
Well done for managing to get such a clear pic of the little chap!

Certainly very unusual markings, and very eye catching, although nothing abnormal.

(Still waiting for your ghost pony pic though ;) )
 
i definitely think its part zebra

while im on a roll, i will dig out the ghost pony ... although ive forgotten the story behind it now
 
HenryFort said:
i definitely think its part zebra
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Maybe its mum was frightened by a zebra while she was carrying ;)

while im on a roll, i will dig out the ghost pony ... although ive forgotten the story behind it now
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Cheers, if you have the time, I've been looking forward to it!
 
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