WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Bengal Cats

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the short stuff. I'm Josh, there's Chuck.

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<v Speaker 1>Jerry's here too. Dave's not, but Jerry's here for Dave.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, the whole rigamar role. It's time for short stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>so let's go. Yeah, so, Chuck, I'm glad you did

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<v Speaker 1>that because I think that was a really great segue

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<v Speaker 1>into this episode on a specific kind of.

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<v Speaker 2>Cats, that's right, we're talking about the Bengal cat. If

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<v Speaker 2>you've ever seen a Bengal cat, or if you look

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<v Speaker 2>up a picture online now when it's safe, it looks

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<v Speaker 2>like a cross between a leopard and a house cat,

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<v Speaker 2>because that's what it is.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, full stop. I mean, it's kind of nuts, but

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<v Speaker 1>there is a small wild leopard cat out there in

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<v Speaker 1>southern and Eastern Asia, Priona ilrius bengalisis bengalensis. I got

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<v Speaker 1>it in there somewhere. Maybe Jerry can chop all that

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<v Speaker 1>up and edit it into the correct pronunciation. But it's

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<v Speaker 1>a tiny little cat that looks a lot like a leopard,

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<v Speaker 1>and it is a wild cat. It's not a leopard.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not even related to the leopard, but it's one

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<v Speaker 1>half of this type of hybridized breed of cats. That

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<v Speaker 1>people keep as pets today.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that people pay a lot of money for I imagine. So, yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>they are very wilful, athletic cats, and we'll kind of

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<v Speaker 2>get to their behavior later. But let's go back about

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<v Speaker 2>six million years to talk about how cats came to be.

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<v Speaker 2>There were a couple of groups of felines that that

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<v Speaker 2>parted ways. There was a very you know, just sort

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<v Speaker 2>of a regular, small bodied cat that was eventually the

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<v Speaker 2>common ancestor of both of these groups. One became the

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<v Speaker 2>one that you talked about, the Prionelaris. Nope, yeah, I

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<v Speaker 2>mean those close touris. Okay, maybe Bengalensis. No, Bengalensis.

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<v Speaker 1>You just did what I do. You added a whole

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<v Speaker 1>bowel in there.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, why don't you take the next one because that.

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<v Speaker 1>One's easy wild leopard cat.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, no, I meant the other lineage.

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<v Speaker 1>The house cat Felis cattus.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, exactly. So those are the two lines. The Felis

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<v Speaker 2>cattus is what we most of us have in our

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<v Speaker 2>home set have cats. But that other one, that leopard

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<v Speaker 2>cat is lives in southern and eastern Asia. Like you said,

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<v Speaker 2>it's a wild cat. It prowls the forest and grasslands.

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<v Speaker 2>And stuff like that. And they're not huge. They're six

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<v Speaker 2>and a half pounds to maybe fifteen and a half pounds.

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<v Speaker 2>And although they look like a leopard, they're you know,

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<v Speaker 2>like you said, they're clearly not they're they're they're small

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<v Speaker 2>by comparison.

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<v Speaker 1>No, but like a leopard, they're covered in rosettes. That's

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<v Speaker 1>what leopard spots are called. And then the little the

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<v Speaker 1>little plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called agltz.

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<v Speaker 1>You know those two.

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<v Speaker 2>Common crossword clue by the way, agletz great.

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<v Speaker 1>But yeah, if you know those two things, you don't

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<v Speaker 1>need to know anything else in the world because they'll

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<v Speaker 1>just kind of open up all the doors you need

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<v Speaker 1>from that point on.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right.

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<v Speaker 1>But rosettes there the little patches of for the little

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<v Speaker 1>spots that leopards have, and that's one of the main

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<v Speaker 1>characteristics of the Bengal cat hybrid breed. Do you want

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<v Speaker 1>to take an early break or do you want to

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<v Speaker 1>keep going? What do you think?

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<v Speaker 2>I say, we keep going. We're only a few minutes in.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, well, let's talk about Willard center Wall. Then.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, this is a guy that is initially responsible for

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<v Speaker 2>this crossbreed. Because in nineteen seventy one, when he was

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<v Speaker 2>a professor at Lomlinda University in California, he was working

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<v Speaker 2>on trying to solve feline leukemia, and apparently that Bengal

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<v Speaker 2>cat is resistant to feline leukemia. So he started working

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<v Speaker 2>with hybridizing these cats to see what he could learn

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<v Speaker 2>about this scientifically speaking, to help save cats.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and we should say, I mean, there's a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of people who are very not happy with the idea

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<v Speaker 1>that people are highizing cats and creating designer cat breeds

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<v Speaker 1>when there's tons of shelter cats that need to be adopted. Wow. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>Willard center Wall, though he seems to have just did

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<v Speaker 1>this innocently, like he wasn't trying to create a new

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<v Speaker 1>designer breed of cat that he could sell. He was

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<v Speaker 1>doing it for scientific research. Enter another breeder, Gene Mill,

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<v Speaker 1>who actually was a purposeful breeder of this new hybrid

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<v Speaker 1>breed of cats what became the Bengal cat. She collaborated

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<v Speaker 1>with center Wall, and she was a conservationist. And that

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<v Speaker 1>won't make any sense for a little while, but will

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<v Speaker 1>I'll bring it in now. The reason that she, a conservationist,

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<v Speaker 1>was involved in creating a hybridized cat was because she

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<v Speaker 1>thought that if you got little cats out there that

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<v Speaker 1>looked like leopards, it would make people more empathetic toward

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<v Speaker 1>leopards in the wild, and hence would dry up the

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<v Speaker 1>market for leopard skin coats and may even help conserve

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<v Speaker 1>wild leopard populations because people adopted like what looked like

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<v Speaker 1>a little baby leopard at home.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and it has not lost on us that her

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<v Speaker 2>last name was mil Save your email and we'll mention

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<v Speaker 2>one more guy before we break. A breeder named Bill Engler,

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<v Speaker 2>who is a zoo keeper and animal importer, worked a

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<v Speaker 2>lot with exotic animals, and he had a leopard cat

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<v Speaker 2>named Shah in the early seventies, and he breeded them

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<v Speaker 2>and created a bunch of Bengal kittens. And I don't

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<v Speaker 2>believe this, but people have surmised, because his name was

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<v Speaker 2>Bill Engler, that the name ben Ingele came from b Engler.

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<v Speaker 2>But I think it's clearly from that Asian leopard cat's name, so.

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<v Speaker 1>Much so that I don't know why people even came

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<v Speaker 1>up with the other idea. Agreed, I think that's break time. Huh, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>let's do it. We'll be right back.

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<v Speaker 2>So these cats, even though I'm completely against this kind

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<v Speaker 2>of thing and selling pets like this at like for

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<v Speaker 2>too grand a pop. They're amazing looking. They're incredible. They're gorgeous,

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<v Speaker 2>little tiny leopards. The rosettes can take various forms. They

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<v Speaker 2>can be kind of pointy, they can kind of look

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<v Speaker 2>like arrowheads. They can be more circular, they can look

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<v Speaker 2>like pawprints. The marble coated Bengal is one of the

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<v Speaker 2>coolest looking cats I've ever seen. But again, I don't

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<v Speaker 2>want to sound like I'm endorsing this kind of thing,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, no.

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<v Speaker 1>But I mean, like, these things do exist, and they

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<v Speaker 1>are beautiful to look at, and they do seem like

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<v Speaker 1>pretty interesting cats as far as cats go, their personalities

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<v Speaker 1>and what they demand from you. I was gonna say require,

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<v Speaker 1>but it seems like a demand. They're also different colored.

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<v Speaker 1>They have different colored coats beneath their rosettes too, all

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<v Speaker 1>the way up to white, which imitates snow leopards, so

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<v Speaker 1>it looks like a mini baby snow leopard essentially running

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<v Speaker 1>around your house. They also have like brown, golden, charcoal, gray, silverish,

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<v Speaker 1>and all these different rosette combinations with different coat combinations

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<v Speaker 1>means that there's an infinite variety of Bengal kittens just

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<v Speaker 1>waiting to be bred.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, they are muscular, they're very athletic. Apparently their hind

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<v Speaker 2>legs are a little taller than the shoulder, so they

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<v Speaker 2>look even a little different than your regular house cat.

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<v Speaker 2>They weigh just sort of like the ones in the wild,

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<v Speaker 2>eight to fifteen pounds, which is and be small for

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<v Speaker 2>a cat. And they're, like I said, they're very energetic.

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<v Speaker 2>They like to take walks. They don't lay around and

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<v Speaker 2>sleep all day like other cats. Apparently they like to swim,

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<v Speaker 2>which is very unique for cats.

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<v Speaker 1>Right. Yeah, they're into water related activities like swimming, showering

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<v Speaker 1>with their owners. Yeah I had wakeboarding.

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<v Speaker 2>But yes I stepped on it. That was even better.

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<v Speaker 1>I stepped on yours too, So there.

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<v Speaker 2>Although kneboard a knee boarding cat. Maybe that's the best joke.

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<v Speaker 1>I thought in kneeboarding too. I workshopped it very briefly

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<v Speaker 1>with myself and said wakeboarding, So the way do you go?

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<v Speaker 1>The thing is is a lot of people buy these

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<v Speaker 1>things and they're like, uh, it's gonna go with my purse.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna carry this cat around whenever I have my

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<v Speaker 1>purse and then probably ignore it the rest of the time.

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<v Speaker 1>I have it they're buying these cats for their looks essentially,

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<v Speaker 1>which is I mean the kind of one of the

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<v Speaker 1>things that that they're bred for is their looks. The

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<v Speaker 1>problem is, even if they're expecting, like this is a

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<v Speaker 1>cat I'm going to take care of, most people are

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<v Speaker 1>totally unprepared for just how different Bengal cats are from

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<v Speaker 1>your average cat. Like you said, all the stamina, all

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<v Speaker 1>the If they get bored, they're very aggressive. So you

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<v Speaker 1>don't want them to get bored because just say bye

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<v Speaker 1>bye to your Aaron's rent furniture, right, yeah, Like you're

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<v Speaker 1>like you are, You're you're in for it. If you

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<v Speaker 1>buy a Bengal cat and take it as your own,

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<v Speaker 1>you it's just going to be way more work than

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<v Speaker 1>the average cat, which can usually amuse itself. So a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of people buy two to keep them busy with

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<v Speaker 1>one another.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, uh yeah, And I guess they have a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of money because I saw that snow leopard version can

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<v Speaker 2>go for like two grand.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm surprised, that's all.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I guess I could.

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<v Speaker 1>See breeders charging way more than that. I'm really surprised. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>that's a value.

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<v Speaker 2>Apparently if they have wild parents or grandparents, it's even

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<v Speaker 2>worse and they require even more socialization than you know,

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<v Speaker 2>which makes sense than the ones who are further removed

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<v Speaker 2>from that wild lineage. And I looked up online because

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<v Speaker 2>this article from how Stuff Works. I'm not sure when

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<v Speaker 2>it was, but it said like Hawaii as a state

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<v Speaker 2>has put a band on breeding and ownership, and then

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<v Speaker 2>so I looked up and there there are quite a

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<v Speaker 2>few states that either have outright bands on ownerships or

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<v Speaker 2>bands on breeding or both, or if they don't have bands,

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<v Speaker 2>they have a lot of like you have to have

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<v Speaker 2>a permit and like hoops you have to jump through

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<v Speaker 2>to get one of these things right. So, yeah, people

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<v Speaker 2>are kind of standing up and or you know, cat

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<v Speaker 2>rescue organizations are obviously standing on their podium and screaming like,

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<v Speaker 2>please don't support this kind of thing. Do not buy

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<v Speaker 2>hybrid cats.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, if you ever drift drive past a strip mall

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<v Speaker 1>and it says cats or puppies or something kittens on

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<v Speaker 1>a sign, you want to keep driving.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh well, unless it's uh they're doing like an adoption

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<v Speaker 2>event on the sidewalk, it's.

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<v Speaker 1>A little different. I'm talking more like a permanent sign. Yeah, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>sign I try to put up like on the shopping

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<v Speaker 1>centers directory.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah yeah. I just wanted to draw that distinction because

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<v Speaker 2>that's what they will often do, is set up in

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<v Speaker 2>front of like pet COO or something.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah you mean. And I were looking once at a

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<v Speaker 1>pet co before we got MO, and there was there

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<v Speaker 1>were dogs they had. It was so sad. They had

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<v Speaker 1>dogs that had all different kinds of special needs or handicaps,

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<v Speaker 1>kind of sequestered off from the other dogs. And among

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<v Speaker 1>these dogs there was a little Chihuahua and apparently the

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<v Speaker 1>only thing unusual about him was that he couldn't retract

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<v Speaker 1>his tongue, so his tongue was always sticking out and

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<v Speaker 1>you had to keep a tongue moist. Yeah, it looks

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<v Speaker 1>super cute like it was. That's just always stuck with me.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean, there's there's a breed of dog that

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<v Speaker 2>has that tongue out full time, right. I don't know that.

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<v Speaker 2>I think that like the supposedly ugliest dog on earth,

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<v Speaker 2>that breed whatever it is that is like patchy hair

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<v Speaker 2>and looks kind of crazy and has it. I think

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<v Speaker 2>they have their tongue permanently out.

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<v Speaker 1>They have a non retractable tongue.

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<v Speaker 2>I guess, so I'll look at should do a short

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<v Speaker 2>stuff on that dog because I don't like some calling

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<v Speaker 2>an animal the ugliest whatever.

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<v Speaker 1>No, that sounds kind of Internet clickbaity, you know, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I agreed. All right, Well I think we're at the

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<v Speaker 1>end of Bengal cats. Eh. Yes, okay, see you guys,

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<v Speaker 1>Short Stuff's out.

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