Leaping Cat Bridge: A Black Feline Braves the Heights in Taiwan

Cropped photo of a daring cat

Today after crossing a bridge connecting Taipei City and New Taipei City, a black cat caused me to pause before I went down a stairway — the only way to reach ground level from this section of the bridge.

Needless to say, the cat also saw me. After a couple of photos, I began to slowly descend the stairs. I figured either the cat would allow me to greet it / pass by or it would head down the stairs in front of me.

Of course, the cat did something else. It jumped onto the concrete wall bordering the stair landing. I froze, fearing the cat would try to reach a supporting structure of the bridge requiring a leap at a perilous height.

Of course, the cat leaped nonetheless. It didn't give itself much of a margin but still landed safely on the other side and settled down.

Quite relieved not to have witnessed a catastrophe (pun not intended), wanting to keep things that way, and not seeing anything I could do to help at the moment, I made my way down the rest of the stairs.

Later as I stood across the street from the stairs, I heard a young voice from above exclaim "Māomī!" — "Kitty!" in Mandarin Chinese. When I looked up I saw a boy standing at the top of the stairs who was soon joined by numerous other school children. It wasn't clear what the children would do, but at least the cat was in a safe location, relatively speaking.

Or so I thought.

In fact, the cat had already returned to the stairway. And before any of the children went down the stairs, it made the same leap to the bridge again.

Expecting another return to the stairway, I waited as the cat remained out of view. After about seven minutes of nobody using the stairs, the cat came into view and prepared itself.

Then, it leaped.

That's a photo worth cropping.

The End.

Ok, not the end. I'm pleased to report the cat made it safely back to the stairs. Here's another cropped photo with a bit of proof:

And now some speculation . . .

The cat appeared to been have been ear tipped, suggesting it is a stray. Given what I have seen elsewhere in Taipei, where stray cats aren't uncommon, I wouldn't be surprised if somebody is feeding the cat regularly at the stairway landing around the time of day I arrived. Perhaps they first encountered the cat there and a ritual began. If so, the downside to this act of kindness is that as the cat waits for the person (food) to arrive it avoids other people by repeatedly making a dangerous leap.

The cat apparently feels confident enough in its abilities. But as an online video search easily indicates, cats aren't perfect. And at some point as the cat ages, it won't be able to leap as well. Will the cat know to retire from its bridge adventures before then? That would be quite a height for a cat, no matter how many lives it has, to fall, and the ground far below is unforgiving concrete.

One potential downside to sharing this story is that people who can figure out the exact location may be inspired to engage in some leaping-kitty tourism and approach the cat on the stair landing hoping to see a jump up close. So please, refrain. This will only add to the number of times the cat is tempted to take a substantial risk.

To be clear, I don't know whether or not the cat is a regular on these stairs — hopefully not. But if you or somebody you know are cat-experienced and interested in further exploring the situation with the aim to help if need be, feel free to contact me (see the sidebar of the website; go here if currently viewing the mobile version). I can help you pin down the exact location and also share the time of day when I saw the cat. Assuming it could require multiple regular visits, I'm not able to undertake the deed, especially since I expect to be departing Taipei soon.

If more high leaps are in store, though, may they all be good ones. Whatever the future holds for the cat, I might feel more confident in the answer if I later see another cat at such heights and think to myself "You're not really going to jump there, are you?"