Mango and the Black Panther

It was a really sad day when the little kitten, Kitkat, that Mrs Noah had adopted, passed away last year. She had contracted biliary, which was passed down from her mother, the feral cat called Bob (Sid’s mum). So, it was with this in mind that Mrs Noah decided to do something about the situation which, in turn, led to the first ‘black panther’ being sighted in Pearly Beach.

A few months ago, Mrs Noah set about contacting the local animal welfare centre telling them she wanted to do something to help the feral cat population in Pearly Beach. She wanted to prevent future generations of feral cats developing biliary by starting a ‘trap/neuter/release’ programme in this area. They said that this would be a great help to them, so Mr and Mrs Noah bought their own humane cat trap, which could be used for the local feral cats and those in other areas too. After many telephone calls and several meetings with the local animal welfare people, they were ready for action. They could do their bit to stop this horrible, often fatal, disease.

Unknown to Mr and Mrs Noah, Mango their faithful hound, had been very attached to Kit Kat! Well, she used to try and chase her everywhere in an effort to bond with her, and, secretly, had been listening to all the plans and conversations regarding catching the feral cats. So, Mango being Mango, thought she had better give Mr and Mrs Noah a helping hand…

Mango is aware that there are many other types of cats in South Africa besides feral cats because she watches the nature programmes on TV with Mr and Mrs Noah and Sid. She even knows some of their names - lion, tiger (although she realises that there aren’t any tigers naturally in South Africa), leopard and even - the black panther!

So, when Mr Noah set out one day to ‘recce’ Pearly Beach for feral cats, it was with great interest that Mango tagged along to keep him safe and out of trouble! They looked high and low, behind bushes and trees, and under every piece of fynbos. Not one cat appeared anywhere, in fact no sighting of anything furry at all! “Oh, how disappointed Mrs Noah will be that we haven’t found a cat to trap,” said Mr Noah.

But then…

As they crossed another bit of dense fynbos, Mango suddenly barked, “Look out, Mr Noah! It’s huge and black!” Off she ran, as fast as the wind, barking at it to protect Mr Noah, then disappeared out of sight! Fearing the worst, (after all, it is deepest, darkest, Africa) Mr Noah ran after Mango and as he rounded a corner, he saw it…

‘It’ was climbing up a telegraph pole, straight up and right to the top - where it just hung on with all its claws, for dear life!

And right there at the bottom was Mango, looking up and barking!

“It’s ok, Mr Noah,” she said. “I’ve scared it away! Did you see it run? It was very fast! It’s huge! Pure black! One of those black panther thingies! Don’t worry, it’s trapped up this tree!”

Then Mango said, “The only problem now, Mr Noah, is that I can’t quite see how you are going to set the trap up there to catch it!”