The chinchilla, like silk
In 1590, this nocturnal mammal was called chinchilla by the Spanish conquistadors. They borrowed this word from the Aymara people, settled in the Andean highlands of the region of Lake Titicaca, or perhaps from the Chinchas, Peruvian people of the Pacific coast. Its very thick and silky coat, a deep silvery gray, was very popular in the 19th century – and the species threatened with extinction. In the wild, it now enjoys protection within nature reserves. Since the twentieth century, chinchillas have been bred for their fur but also to make pets. Their softness is popular with children!
The angora rabbit is the pompom!
Native to the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal), the wild rabbit has spread throughout Europe since Antiquity. It was first hunted in warrens, that is, wooded areas used as game reserves. Then it was domesticated in the Middle Ages by raising it in hutches. As a domestic animal, it is appreciated for the softness of its fur, but it has fragile health. The long silky hairs of the Angora rabbit carry the pompom!
The ocelot, a two-tone satin dress
In 1765, Buffon described for the first time, in his Natural History, a "fierce and carnivorous" tiger cat brought from Central America to Paris. “Of all the tabby-skinned animals, the male ocelot certainly has the most beautiful and elegantly varied coat; that of the leopard itself does not come close in terms of the liveliness of the colors and the regularity of the drawing, "said the Enlightenment naturalist. The ocelot has a reddish-gray coat, not tabby but ocellate, that is, dotted with rounded two-tone spots.
The lynx, a fitting fur
This feline, recognizable by its erect hairs on its ears, hunts alone in the boreal forests of Europe, America and Asia. The Greeks (who called him lunx) and the Romans (lynx) gave her such a keen sight that she could pass through walls. This legend is linked to that of the Argonaut Lynceus, endowed with the same power. From the 13th century, the expression "to have a lynx's eye" became established in French. Also called a cervier wolf, this large cat wears a collar of silky hair and a red coat, usually tabby or spotted.
The fox, red or silver
A real character from a novel, the fox! Very cunning and unscrupulous, this carnivore with straight ears stands out as the main character of the Roman de Renart. This work with multiple developments, largely anonymous, enjoyed immense popular success from the middle of the 12th century. Little by little, Renart le goupil was simply called “the renart”, then the fox after 1530. Renart had the skin of the goupil! In the North, it is also called renaud or ernade, and rainal in Cantal. The fur of the silver fox, a variety of red fox bred in the 20th century on Prince Edward Island, Canada, shows a black tinge speckled with long white hairs. Some elegant women are crazy about it.
The sable, a symbol of luxury
This marten inhabits a good part of North Asia (from Siberia to Manchuria). Its velvety reddish-brown coat is darkish. A symbol of luxury since the Renaissance, it has driven Russian trappers ever further east, towards the Pacific. The fur has a little aristocratic connotation. "Standing behind me, he keeps the fur turban balanced on my head, hands me the sleeves of my sable" writes novelist Colette in Claudine cleaning up, published in 1902.
Unusual info
The mink stinks! This small mammal, renowned for its elegant soft and shiny fur, is nevertheless able to release a fetid bouquet to mark its territory and ward off predators. It owes its name to its bad smell: mink comes from Latin screw, “Release a silent gas”!
Read also :
⋙ 10 misconceptions about the guinea pig
⋙ Is the dwarf rabbit a real companion?
⋙ Zoom on the mammals of our forests
Article published in the issue Femme Actuelle Jeux Animo n ° 4 November-December 2020