Lions & Tigers & Bars
My feet are throbbing, Clifford is pouring me a beer from a can, a dark beer from Germany, not the lightly colored local beer. We just got back from the tiger park, a park where you get to ride around an 80 acre reserve in a little bus with barred windows and look at, honk at, and take pictures of tigers sleeping and yawning. Every once and awhile one of the zoo keepers, or whatever they are called, will throw a chicken out and you'll get to see some action for a few seconds. Only one of the tigers will get the chicken.
This "Tiger Park" has at least 200 tigers in it, most of them roam the park freely, but many are in little cages pacing and growling. There are even lions, a leopard, and a liger. The spell check has a problem with the word "liger", but you know what I'm talking about.
The liger is a huge tiger and lion hybrid, it has faint stripes and a short mane, as well as that little tassel at the end of it's tail, whatever that's called. But, according to my studious wife Becky, and her research, the liger isn't supposed to exist. It is difficult for it to be born, nature usually rejects it. I think Becky said it has a 0.1% chance of being born. Anyway, once it's born, and becomes and adult, it isn't quite right. The liger is not a very happy animal, in it's tiny cement cage, biting it's tail and growling at it. It was attacking it's tail the last time we were there a few months ago too, only last time it's tail was bleeding a little. I wonder what would happen if they let it out of it's cage.
But I'd have to say that the most exciting part of the day was in the cage right before the liger cage. Becky was taking a video of a white Siberian tiger in one of the tiny little cages. The tiger was upset because someone had closed it's gate, it was batting at the wall and growling, and acting like an aggressive animal.
There are two layers of protection between the animals and the humans. The layer closest to the animals is a chain link fence, just like the ones around the middle school I went to when I was a kid. After the chain link fence, closest to the humans, is a grid of welded together rebar. The holes between the bars are big enough to stick your head through, but not big enough for a tigers head. His paws would fit through easily though. When we took pictures of the tigers, and the liger, we reached past the bars and put the camera up against the chain link pointing the lens between the gaps.
Now before you get all worried, moms, the humans are about ten feet off the ground too and there are many warning signs that tell you to not put your fingers through the chain link fence. And Becky didn't have her fingers through the fence, just her phone pressed up against it. So, to get to the point, she nearly had a heart attack when the white tiger attacked the chain link fence she was pressing her phone against.
And yes, she still has the video.
So I could have titled this blog entry: My Wife Was Attacked By An 800 Pound Tiger Today. And then in small print: ...but was protected by a chain link fence and bars.
On the way out of the tiger viewing area Clifford and I wondered aloud to each other if they ever check the strength of the fences and bars which are already rusting. How would they do that anyway? X-Rays?
This "Tiger Park" has at least 200 tigers in it, most of them roam the park freely, but many are in little cages pacing and growling. There are even lions, a leopard, and a liger. The spell check has a problem with the word "liger", but you know what I'm talking about.
The liger is a huge tiger and lion hybrid, it has faint stripes and a short mane, as well as that little tassel at the end of it's tail, whatever that's called. But, according to my studious wife Becky, and her research, the liger isn't supposed to exist. It is difficult for it to be born, nature usually rejects it. I think Becky said it has a 0.1% chance of being born. Anyway, once it's born, and becomes and adult, it isn't quite right. The liger is not a very happy animal, in it's tiny cement cage, biting it's tail and growling at it. It was attacking it's tail the last time we were there a few months ago too, only last time it's tail was bleeding a little. I wonder what would happen if they let it out of it's cage.
But I'd have to say that the most exciting part of the day was in the cage right before the liger cage. Becky was taking a video of a white Siberian tiger in one of the tiny little cages. The tiger was upset because someone had closed it's gate, it was batting at the wall and growling, and acting like an aggressive animal.
There are two layers of protection between the animals and the humans. The layer closest to the animals is a chain link fence, just like the ones around the middle school I went to when I was a kid. After the chain link fence, closest to the humans, is a grid of welded together rebar. The holes between the bars are big enough to stick your head through, but not big enough for a tigers head. His paws would fit through easily though. When we took pictures of the tigers, and the liger, we reached past the bars and put the camera up against the chain link pointing the lens between the gaps.
Now before you get all worried, moms, the humans are about ten feet off the ground too and there are many warning signs that tell you to not put your fingers through the chain link fence. And Becky didn't have her fingers through the fence, just her phone pressed up against it. So, to get to the point, she nearly had a heart attack when the white tiger attacked the chain link fence she was pressing her phone against.
And yes, she still has the video.
So I could have titled this blog entry: My Wife Was Attacked By An 800 Pound Tiger Today. And then in small print: ...but was protected by a chain link fence and bars.
On the way out of the tiger viewing area Clifford and I wondered aloud to each other if they ever check the strength of the fences and bars which are already rusting. How would they do that anyway? X-Rays?