Monday, October 22, 2007

Walking Gato

After two days of following Cally while she walked Gato, it was my turn to take the rope. It had poured torrentially the night before (and was continuing to do so) so our trail had turned into a small watercourse. Gato is attached to his volunteer by two caribiners and about 2m of climbing rope. One end is loop around the handler´s waist and the other is attached to Gato´s collar. If Gato runs, you run. If Gato goes under a tree, you go under a tree (or you undo the rope around your waist and hang on for dear life). The trail is around 10kms and will take Gato (with a rest in the creek and at his lookout) 4-6 hours to complete. It is quite a fun workout filled with climbing, crawling, and jumping and has a tendency to be spectacularly dirty.
Because I was new, Gato tested me by trying to head down all the trails that he knows are forbidden. Unfortunately, he has to stick to certain trails or he will encounter the other Cats or walk into a village. I love my days in the jumgle with Gato and Cally eventhough Gato gets a bit grumpy about returning to his cage. Gato is a very tranquil cat. He will grumble and pull the rope but I have never felt like he was about to attack me.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful pussy cat!

Margo and Chris said...

What a beautiful pussy cat!