I think I smell a rat...

by Joel Taylor

A hungry rodent couldn't believe his luck when he stumbled upon a prime chunk of juicy meat.

Tucking into the unexpected treat, he was unaware he was dicing with death. Until, that is, a huge shadow loomed over him and he looked up to find miffed leopard Sheena, who wanted her dinner back.

But, rather than run away, the cheeky rat ignored the big cat and carried on eating until he was full.

'He didn't take any notice of the leopard, just went straight over to the meat and started feeding himself," said 19-year-old photography student, Casey Gutteridge, who captured the scene at the Santago Rare Leopard Project, in Hertfordshire.

'But the leopard was pretty surprised. She bent down and sniffed the rat and flinched a bit like she was scared. In the meantime, the rat just carried on eating like nothing had happened.'

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

Sheena was brought in to the project from a British zoo when she was just four months old. She is one of 14 big cats in the private collection, which was set up by Ms James' late husband.

Leopards are known to stalk close to their prey and run a relatively short distance on the hunt.

metro.co.uk, Friday 5 June 2009, p3.

See also: Amazing moment as mighty mouse takes on a hungry leopard - and wins (where the "rat" is now referred to as a mouse - which looks more likely from the photographs)