Rare civet cat struts into Dahanu doctors’ home
PALGHAR: An adult Asian Palm Civet cat was found from the house of a physician in Dahanu, around 135kms from Mumbai, on Thursday night. The cat, which had entered the Dr Rajeev Wadekar’s house while the family was watching television, was then sent to the Turtle Rescue Centre, Dahanu.
Rajeev’s wife, Dr Supriya Wadekar, an anaesthetist, said, after dinner, the couple and their son, Vishal, were watching TV in the master bedroom. “When my son went to drink water in the kitchen, he found lots of banana peels all over the kitchen. As we had put rat poison some days ago, we thought it was just rats,” she said.
However, around 11pm, they heard noises in the drawing room. “When Vishal went to the room, he found the civet cat hiding behind a curtain.”
Vishal then called Vivek Jayal Meenchriel, an animal activist, who rescued the cat using a cage.
“How could the cat enter the doctor’s house as all the window panes were shut? It seems it may have come to eat fruit,” said Vivek.
They then informed the forest department of Dahanu and the mammal was taken to the Turtle Rescue Centre.
“The cat is in trauma. We will release it after it returns to its normal condition,” said Dhawal Kansara, member of the Centre. Kansara said it was the first time this cat was rescued, that too from someone’s house.