Roughly half of the cats living at the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum share what distinctive physical trait?

Roughly half of the cats living at the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum share what distinctive physical trait?

The correct answer is Extra toes. About half of the cats living at the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum in Key West, Florida, are polydactyl cats — cats born with more than the usual number of toes. While most cats have five toes on their front paws and four on their back paws, polydactyl cats can have six or more on each paw.

Ernest Hemingway received his first polydactyl cat, named Snow White, from a ship’s captain in the 1930s. The unique trait is caused by a harmless genetic mutation, and many of Snow White’s descendants still roam the Hemingway Home and Museum grounds today. The cats are famously friendly, well-cared for, and protected as part of the estate’s heritage.

These “Hemingway cats,” as they’re affectionately known, have become an integral part of the museum’s identity. Visitors can tour the property and interact with the cats, many of whom are named after famous artists, actors, and writers — a tradition that continues in honor of Hemingway’s colorful life and literary influence.

Fun fact: The Hemingway Home’s 50+ cats are protected by federal law as historical animals, and each has a microchip identifying it as part of the estate’s population.