Once in a lifetime, if you're blessed enough, you encounter another being who seems to share your soul. Samson was that animal for me. From the time I found him set aside at a local breeder to die, I bonded with the little bundle, who later grew to over 180 pounds! The size didn't matter, though. It was as though we were tied together from the beginning. From the day he gained his strengh to nurse my finger to the day he died 2 years later, he crawled up on my lap and nursed my finger every day of his life. The day I found him dead, I thought my life was over.I look forward to seeing him again someday, and I miss him every day even now.

One day, another cougar had gotten a hold of a small dog through the fence. I started screaming for the cougar to let the dog go. The normally gentle Samson, apparently thinking that the cougar had me, rushed over and grabbed her from behing the neck and threw her across the cage. Hew then came back to me meowing his short meows as if to ask me if I was ok. If I had not seen it myself, I wouldn't believe it. He had protected me! Wow. I really miss that boy...