[BITList] David and Goliath .... lunch

[John Feltham]

Begin forwarded message:



Dear Friends, One courageous , or foolhardy, mouse.








               This mouse diced with death when it tucked into the  
lunch of a hungry leopard.

  Seemingly unaware of the beast towering over it, the mischievous  
rodent grabbed at scraps of meat thrown into the African Leopard's  
enclosure.

  But instead of pouncing on the the tiny intruder the 12-year-old  
leopard, called Sheena, appeared to be afraid of the daring mouse and  
kept her distance.

  At one stage she tried to nudge the mouse away with her nose, but  
the determined little chap carried on chewing away until he was full



  The extraordinary scene was captured by photography student Casey  
Gutteridge at the Santago Rare Leopard Project in Hertfordshire.

  The 19-year-old, from Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, who was  
photographing the leopard for a course project, was astounded by the  
mouse's behaviour.

  He said: 'I have no idea where the mouse came from - he just  
appeared in the enclosure after the keeper had dropped in the meat for  
the leopard.

  'He didn't take any notice of the leopard, just went straight over  
to the meat and started feeding himself.

  'But the leopard was pretty surprised - she bent down and sniffed  
the mouse and flinched a bit like she was scared.

  'In the meantime the mouse just carried on eating like nothing had  
happened.



   ...but even a gentle shove does not deter the little creature from  
getting his fill...

  'It was amazing, even the keeper who had thrown the meat into the  
enclosure was shocked - he said he'd never seen anything like it  
before.'

Project owner Jackie James added: 'It was so funny to see - Sheena  
batted the mouse a couple of times to try to get it away from her food.

  'But the determined little thing took no notice and just carried on.'

  Sheena was brought in to the Santago Rare Leopard Project from a UK  
zoo when she was just four months old.

  She is one of 14 big cats in the private collection started by  
Jackie's late husband Peter in 1989.

  The African Leopard can be found in the continent's forests,  
grasslands, savannas, and rainforests.



   ...so the mouse continued to eat the leopard's lunch and show the  
leopard who was boss !





ooroo

Bad typists of the word, untie.




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