If you store grain you get mice/rats, that’s true even today(don’t eat raw flour), which leads to cats.
Humans realized that fewer mice means more grain and left cats alone. But one theory is that families who let the cats hang around their home more had fewer instances of diseases carried by rodents, which further led humans to want cats to be around.
We were pretty well domesticated by the time they bothered showing up. Cats wouldn’t put up with our barbaric and unmannered ways before we invented towns.
It’s telling that we find lions and tigers as cute as we do small cats. Means cat cuteness isn’t a trait that was selected for in them so we’d let them stick around but it could have easily been the other way.
I’d say dogs/ wolves did their fair share domesticating us as well.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/130302-dog-domestic-evolution-science-wolf-wolves-human
Cats as well.
If you store grain you get mice/rats, that’s true even today(don’t eat raw flour), which leads to cats.
Humans realized that fewer mice means more grain and left cats alone. But one theory is that families who let the cats hang around their home more had fewer instances of diseases carried by rodents, which further led humans to want cats to be around.
We were pretty well domesticated by the time they bothered showing up. Cats wouldn’t put up with our barbaric and unmannered ways before we invented towns.
Yeah, I was more referencing how cats basically showed up and were all “become more domestic, and we’ll move in and keep you safer”.
It’s telling that we find lions and tigers as cute as we do small cats. Means cat cuteness isn’t a trait that was selected for in them so we’d let them stick around but it could have easily been the other way.