54 Cats Riding Out Hurricane Irma in Ernest Hemingway’s Key West Home

The Ernest Hem­ing­way Home and Muse­um pro­vides a sanc­tu­ary to 54 poly­dactyl (six-toed) cats.  Accord­ing to the muse­um, a ship cap­tain once gave Ernest a white six-toed cat, and now some of its descen­dents live in the Hem­ing­way Home and Muse­um locat­ed in Key West–precisely where Hur­ri­cane Irma is now mak­ing land­fall.

As cura­tor David Gon­za­les explains above, he and the 54 Hem­ing­way cats have no plans to evac­u­ate. They’re going to ride out the storm and pro­tect the nov­el­ist’s his­toric home. We wish them all the best. The same goes to all of our friends in Flori­da. We’ll see you when the storm pass­es.

You can see some of the Hem­ing­way poly­dactyl cats here.

via Metafil­ter

Relat­ed Con­tent:

Sev­en Tips From Ernest Hem­ing­way on How to Write Fic­tion

Ernest Hem­ing­way Cre­ates a Read­ing List for a Young Writer, 1934

Hem­ing­way, Fitzger­ald, Faulkn­er: A Free Yale Course


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Comments (29)
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  • Diana McLeod says:

    Pray­ing that Mr. Gon­za­les’ & the cats are safe in Hem­ing­way’s well built home!!

  • Lin says:

    I hope there is an update on the cats and staff soon. I have not been able to get them out of my mind.

  • Teresa Greer says:

    I hope all is well with the peo­ple & cats in the Hem­ing­way home. Prayers to all in the way of Irma. West Coast CA. is think­ing of you all.

  • Phyllis says:

    I too want an update. I have thought about the kit­ties con­stant­ly since I first heard Irma was bound for the keys. I hope and pray they and the adults are ok.

  • Lisa says:

    How are the Hem­ing­way cats!!!

  • robin says:

    Please let us know in Nashville if you hear any­thing!

  • Jennifer says:

    I walked by St. Fran­cis of Assisi house yes­ter­day in NYC. Said prayer for the kind folk tak­ing care of the cats. And for the cats too.

  • Jennifer says:

    Respect all crea­tures of God. I feel sor­ry for you, you’re igno­rant.

  • Tracy says:

    Please let us how know how you guys are doing and how the cats are doing. Hem­ing­way House at such an amaz­ing place and the cats are amaz­ing too I hope every­one is okay!!

  • Sandra says:

    I hope to hear soon on how every­one and the kit­ties are doing. I’m feel­ing so nervous.…..prayers to all. It’s a tough deci­sion to put all the kit­ties in cages, too. Take care,
    ~wait­ing in MN~

  • Linda Davis says:

    So anx­ious wait­ing to hear some good news about these folks and their lit­tle charges. Pray­ing for a hap­py out­come

  • Heather Allenbrook says:

    You are a leg­end
    x

  • Elina says:

    Hop­ing to hear soon on how the cats and their care­givers made out dur­ing Irma. I pray for a hap­py endin

  • Bentley says:

    We real­ly hope that the staff, cats and Hem­ming­way house is OK. We have vis­it­ed them many times and pray for a good out­come. Hope to hear soon.

  • Mel says:

    We want an update!

  • Lisa says:

    Prayers for safe­ty of cats & staff!!

  • kate says:

    Please inform us when you can , as many are wor­ried about the home, peo­ple, and the cats!!!

  • Lynn Westlake says:

    I am very wor­ried about them all but real­ize com­mu­ni­ca­tion after a storm is usu­al­ly impos­si­ble. Hope some­one can pro­vide info soon

  • Eileen says:

    Hold­ing my breath here in So Cal. Anx­ious­ly look­ing for some good news.

  • Hope Sanders says:

    Prayers for kit­ties & care­tak­ers. Look­ing for­ward to an update.

  • Jacque Beck says:

    I am pray­ing for all of you.

  • Brick Ranson says:

    Kudos to David Gon­za­les. It sounds like you have this under con­trol. Thank you

  • Brick Ranson says:

    To David Gon­za­les: I think you have every thing under con­trol. Thank you

  • Brick Ranson says:

    To David Gon­za­les: Thank you for what you’re doing. I think you have this well thought out.

    Thank you,
    Brick Ran­son

  • Anna Wolak says:

    I’m lis­ten­ing to MSNBC and Hem­ing­way House cura­tor, Dave Gon­za­les, phoned in. They have no inter­net, but have phone. It sounds like all the staff and all the cats made it through fine. He said the pow­er is out but the have three gen­er­a­tors run­ning.

  • Laurie Glick says:

    Please Update us How Hem­ming­way Cats R and the Staff And Great Guy David Gon­za­lez car­ing For them- Saw (And im a Cats Owner‑2 — and Ani­mal Lover- So wor­ried About The Hem­ming­way Cats & STAFF- in Key West ? So wor­ried ‑saw what Anna wolek said‑4:48PM That David Phoned in ‑Are OK There

  • Debby Carter says:

    So hap­py to hear they are okay. I have been so wor­ried for every­one.

  • SHIRLEY PINCKNEY says:

    THANK GOD THAT THE HEMMINGWAY CATS ARE SAFE. WHEN WE VISITED KEY WEST IT WAS SAID THAT KEY WEST HAS MORE CATS (HOMELESS/ON THE STREETS)THAN PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING THERE. I’M PRAYING FOR THE SAFETY OF ALL THE PEOPLE, GOD’S LIVING CREATURES, PETS, INCLUDING PET BIRDS, AND
    OTHER PET TYPES, INCLUDING TANKED FISH,etc. GOD CARES FOR ALL OF HIS CREATION. THIS HURRICANE (AND OTHERS) DEMONTRATES THE AWESOME POWER OF A LIVING GOD AND CREATOR OF UNIVERSES!

  • Robin Wicks says:

    Knew some­one would know if they all made it ok, great to hear. I was intense­ly wor­ried about storm surge, con­sid­er­ing the keys are at sea lev­el and such small islands. Watched the ‘south­ern­most point’ mark­er cam last night, and until around 2:53am waves were at ok lev­els com­pared to the sea­wall there, no flood­ing, which real­ly sur­prised me for that point in time con­sid­er­ing the eye was very near there. Then it went out.

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