Cougar Totem: Close to done but still in progess.
So here she is. Her chest and leg area need to be sorted out yet and I want to dark the background around the cat. But I was so excited to move on that I did. I plan to go back to her in a day or two. It always helps to rest a bit and then come back.
Wild is always wild.
When I was working at the zoo people would see me walking amongst the critters and form the wrong opinion. When in with the wolves as they were bouncing around me like a group of very happy to see me dogs trying to lick me or or when in with Sam the cougar and she was acting all kittenish and rolling in the grass, they would often comment how much they seemed just like their pets at home. My saying under no circumstances are these critters tame did little to change that opinion.
It wasn’t until I threw some leg of something in the enclosures (when I was safely out) and the predators did what they do best, fell upon the carcass with the most scary snarling and clawing that they got my true meaning. Wild is always wild. Even when you raise from a few days old with a bottle, which is what this park did.
Tags: totems
The background really sets her off.
Some people near here had Siberian Tigers that they advertised people could come and go in the enclosure with and pet. Though, thank goodness no one was seriously hurt, they are no longer in business — because that did not work. Our local zoo also had an incident with baby tigers on display for the public to pet.
Wow baby tiger incident. huh.
AT the park long before I worked there, they had a cougar attack a child. They have a drive through portion and people are supposed to have their windows up. They have signs and a watch tower which will actually yell at you if they see you with your windows down. At any rate a camper was driving through and a cougar leaped in through an open window and grabbed a kid. His grandma stabbed it with a kitchen knife.
This cat was bottle raised and never had to hunt for food. Still didn’t stop it from seeing a human as prey.
Mind you. The cat was just doing what is has been created to do. It is what it is. I think if the stabbing didn’t kill the cat I’m sure the park destroyed her. Really rather sad.
I’ve read about people who do keep wolves and cougars as pets. I think it can be done but it takse understanding these animals’ wild nature and constant awareness of their behavior. I know I’ve met one tame cougar, tame enough that you could pet him at his public appearances.
I can also remember how Bert managed his public appearances and watched carefully for signs the cat was getting either tired or too frisky. Bert never left Big Kitty alone with his fans. He was always right there. It was safe for Big Kitty to nap in front of an audience which he did several times.
One of my cats had a habit of sleeping on shelves and gradually oozing off till he’d fall down. This was very funny in a ten pound cat. Big Kitty weighed 180 pounds, more than I do now. His tail was as big as my wrist. His teeth (fangs) were almost two inches long. His paws were about the size of salad plates with really big claws on them, which he’d been trained to keep in with as much difficulty (at least) as anyone teaching a cat not to claw furniture or friends.
During the art auction, Big Kitty went to sleep and began oozing off the table just the way my cat did. He had about ten inches of back dangling off the edge of the table before Bert saw him, grabbed his legs, flipped him over and dragged him back up onto the table. He woke up with this wonderful silly-kitty expression — he looked at Bert the way Ari looks at me, absolute trust.
But I think it might have gotten a lot uglier if he’d actually hit the floor and gotten scared and confused.
There’s also the tragedy of Siegfried and Roy and their cats, whom even when one of them died of a cat attack they did not blame the cat. They knew — the one that died made a mistake in big cat handling. They lived with them constantly and still made that mistake.
I let Big Kitty wash my hands after drawing him, it was a wonderful experience. He was friendly with me above and beyond his friendly mellow behavior with his other fans, I think some of it was spiritual and some of it his picking up on Bert’s reactions to me. Ari will be friendlier with people that I love and friendlier with people that have good intentions toward me.
But they are wild. I didn’t try to play with Big Kitty the way I do with Ari.
What they have is a conscious social connection to the people who bring them goodies and socialize with them in their terms. What wild animals don’t have is thousands of years of inbred instinctive reactions to people as members of their community — that’s what dogs and cats have that wolves and cougars don’t. I was surprised at how sociable Big Kitty was since I thought cougars were solitary in the wild.
You have to know what you’re doing and you’re still taking a chance. Especially in the situation with the closed or open windows thing, that’s just brainless. That’s not a cat with its handler right there to break up any trouble and call off the animal with trained reactions. That’s animals that are hunting daily for their sustenance and being presented with squeaky prey inside a box — a classic puzzle just waiting to be solved. The cat probably tested a lot of windows before finding the people who didn’t follow the rules.
I tend to listen to the trainers in situations like that.
I might have done it if I wasn’t disabled, raised a large wild creature. It would be cool. But it takes much more physical ability than I have. I’m also well aware any sensible predator goes for the one that limps… and with wolves, the one that limps is not seen as the alpha.
It’s very sad the cat had to die for their being stupid enough to keep the window open. Every now and then I see sad news stories about a bear that had to be put down in Yellowstone because people are still doing that “feed the bears” thing on the road.
They don’t get it that it might take a thousand years of bear feeding for the bears to know in their blood and bones not to attack the creatures that throw marshmallows. But then, humans can kill you by surprise too. I’m for preserving these species and trying to reach a balance with the world where not all of it goes to human activity.
Part of Bert’s trick was that before the cat petting session he’d take Big Kitty out for a good long run and play session to tire him out, so that he was tired and relaxed for his overdose of affection. I also watched Big Kitty’s reaction to the crowds — he really grew up into this role of spokescat by happening to have the most gregarious personality, a real ham of a cat.
Individuals vary. You can’t know who you’re dealing with unless you’re taking care of that animal all the time. Moving with confidence the way you did on all those zoo trips helps, but you knew what you were doing and that does make a difference — and still there are sad accidents.
I think I’ll stick with my Ari and keep him an indoor cat. I don’t like the idea of cougars, wolves or coyotes snapping him up for a snack. He’s much better evolved for sleeping on a heated waterbed, laying in my lap, banging around my room chasing art supplies on the floor and annually terrorizing veterinarians.
He’s so sweet with me that it came as a surprise to find out that the vet treats him like Hannibal Lecter — he needs restraints, a muzzle, a towel around him and the vet still wears leather gloves to the armpit that he doesn’t need with large mean Dobermans. But he’s part Siamese, a colorpoint longhair with the Siamese one-man cat attitude.
I totally agree Robert. Big Kitty sounds wonderful. The big cats I worked with were never that tame (so to speak) I never doubted for a second if I turned my back on Sam that she wouldn’t take me down. Never for a second.
I’ve spent a lifetime working with animals and understand the calm energy needed to work and control the situation. Though even with my horse Chicory who has no mean streak in him, I never take for granted that today may be the day I get hurt. I imagine the vet tech training instilled this is me. I can’t tell you the videos and photos they showed us about animals who attacked their owners. One woman had her left breast completely bitten off by a horse she had for over 20 years.
Make no mistake, I never blame the animal. Animals are creatures of instinct. Even more so the wild ones. I imagine my frustration comes from the days when I worked in the animal industry and seen so many fools try to keep wild animals because they thought it was cool or some sort of status symbol. People get hurt and it’s almost always the animal who pays.
So on to a lighter subject.
Hey you got any pictures of Ari anywhere?