Cat specialists discover why British ginger toms are so feisty – it is the Vikings fault

Ginger Tom cats invaded Britain with the Vikings – and that is why they are so feisty, fearless and frisky, boffins believe.

Flame-haired moggies were the pets of choice for the Scandinavian sea-faring scoundrels as they blazed an all-conquering trail of bloody brutality across Europe.

Experts believe the horn-hatted invaders brought ginger toms with them to the UK. And that is why they are the most confident cats on the nation’s streets today.

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Owners of roving redheads report they frequently have to retrieve them from neighbours’ homes and gardens – particularly where female felines are holed up. They often end up in noisy night-time cat fights with rival moggies.

Now biologist and cat behaviour expert Roger Tabor has revealed the reason behind the pussies’ antics – they picked up their behaviour from their ancient ancestors.

He said a scientific mapping of cats with a “strong presence of the feline ginger gene” revealed they showed up in “places that had Viking settlement in Europe and the UK”.

Experts believe the Vikings “carried ginger cats from Turkey and around the Black Sea to Scandinavia and their settlements in Britain”.

“York, once a Viking stronghold, still has a higher population of ginger cats than London,” Roger said.

“Vikings may just have liked the distinctive fur. But I would suggest that the perceived friendly, less-fearful nature of the ginger cat could be why it boldly strolled onto their boats.

“Ginger cats themselves could be said to have a Viking disposition – friendly to people they get on with but fierce with opponent tom cats.”

Fluffy ginger tom Henry is a favourite with staff and patients at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.

Despite having owners nearby he chooses to wander the corridors and food hall happy to be petted as long as he is not interrupted while snoozing and has been credited with calming staff and patients.

Fellow flame-hair Nala greets commuters daily at Stevenage railway station in Herts where he sits on top of the ticket machines unfazed as passengers stream past.

Pumpkin ignored staff who tried to “ban” him from his local Tesco near Norwich.

Ginger puss Garfield was so popular with Sainsbury’s shoppers in Ely, Cambs, that after his death a eulogy was held at the city’s cathedral and a brass monument erected in his memory.

Three-legged ginger tom Jasper shot to stardom in 2017 after his owner started taking him to work at the University of Cambridge’s Marshall Library of Economics.

Students credited meeting the cat for helping reduce exam stress.

And the University of East Anglia in Norwich has its own ginger bookworm Sylvester who regularly attends lectures and nods off on the library’s information desk.

Like many toms he has his own Facebook groups where students and staff post photographs of their encounters with him.

But not all are so well-behaved. Sydney Reid said her ginger tom Ernie raises hell in Godmanchester, Cambs.

“Ernie is a total menace,” she said. “We’ve had a pure white, a pure black, a tabby, a tuxedo – and Ernie – and he’s the only one to cause such problems within the neighbourhood. What is it about ginger cats?”

Sydney said Ernie had piled on the pounds after “breaking and entering” other homes to steal food for which she has apologised.

“We once had a neighbour knock on our door to let us know he’d taken an entire resting roast chicken off her kitchen side and out her kitchen window,” she added.