Heartwarming Recovery Of Mirage (The Cat Came Back)

A cat that survived the fall that killed her owners now has a new home with one of her rescuers.

The 12-year-old tabby named Mirage was in a carrier when Matthew Nannen and Bailee Crane fell nearly 400 feet off of a Bryce Canyon cliff.

They were killed, and Mirage was later found next to their bodies, suffering from broken bones, but very much alive.

Now Mirage has a new home. She has been officially adopted by Utah Department of Public Safety Pilot Chelsea Tugaw, who was among the crew that saved her life.

There's an old song from the 1970s called "The Cat Came Back," in which an old farmer tries myriad ways to get rid of an old cat, but all his tries were unsuccessful.

Sample lyrics:

"But you know...?
The cat came back the very next day
The cat came back, they thought he was a goner
But the cat came back; he just couldn't stay away
Give me a "Meow", go"

(The video with lyrics is here, although be warned that the song is a little macabre).

And of course there's the old thought that cat's have nine lives.

There are many myths surrounding cats, many of which are rooted in Ancient Egypt, where cats were revered and one of the Egyptian goddesses, Bastet, supposedly often took the form of a cat when visiting her subjects.

But the nine lives myth seems to have outlasted them all.

In most countries, they are believed to have nine lives, but in Italy, Germany, Greece, Brazil, and some Spanish-speaking regions, they are said to have seven lives, while in Arabic traditions, the number of lives is six

Although there is no specific reason or story behind the myth, it's believed it came about because of the natural agility cats exhibit in escaping life-threatening situations.

Heck, falling cats often land on their feet, using an instinctive righting reflex to twist their bodies around.

Cats are able to do this as they have an unusually flexible backbone and no functional collarbone.

Well who knows how many lives Mirage used up on her 400-foot fall, but we do know this:

The cat came back.