This is a man who really loves his cat:
A Negev resident woke up early Monday morning to find a leopard in his bedroom.
The wild animal had been chasing Arthur Damush’s beloved cat around the house, and when the two animals entered his bedroom, Damush did not hesitate, and knew exactly what he had to do.
The Midreshest Ben-Gurion resident instinctively jumped out of his bed and caught the wild creature with his bare hands.
There’s a picture.
He saved his cat.
Wow. He grabbed a leopard by the scruff of the neck. Now that’s either very foolish, or very brave. But he’s alive, and so is his cat, so I’m going to chalk it up to brave.
I’m thinking foolish, but again, I’m not a cat person either.
I’d go with brave myself.
However, the question I have is where did the leopard come from? Are there wild leopards roaming the Israeli countryside? Did it escape from a zoo? Enquiring minds want to know!
He loves all cats, not just his own.
He did not harm the leopard.
Most Israeli’s have arms at home due to their army reserve service, yet he refrained from using them. That’s impressive self restraint under the circumstances.
Where did the leopard come from? You don’t suppose the folks on the other side of the fence might have tossed him over to engage in a little macro-biological warfare, do you?
I really don’t think the Palestinians are sending Leopards into the Negev. You know, you could Google it yourself to find out if leopards are native to the desert there. My guess is yes.
A friend of mine who is a zoologist and tour guide here has told me many times about the leopards native to the En Gedi region that eat cats from the nearby kibbutz of the same name. So the story was no surprise to me.
Yes, it was extremely brave of Mr. Damush to capture the leopard alive the way he did. I just wonder: how on earth did it get into his home?
Leopards do roam the area. I remember when I lived in Israel, mid-seventies, a couple of stories on the subject. They’re not common but they do live there.
And thanks, Meryl, for spotting the article about the leopard.