I had seen early footage of Treadwell on Animal Planet or another cable channel and concluded he was another Victim of Disney, believing that all animals were just big fuzzy pets inside, needing merely to be awakened by our love. In short, an idiot. The cable science-and-nature channels run about 50/50 on annoying me but he was way off the scale.
An hour's drive from where I live, there is a private facility that cares for former "pet" big cats, mostly lions and tigers, that have outgrown the equally Disneyfied types who thought to make pets of them. The folks who run it are quite fond of big cats but aren't under any illusions about them being oversized housecats. They're open to the public but very un-zoo-like: between you and the cats is nothing but a sturdy chain-link fence, 20' high and with telephone poles for fence poles, along with your own good sense. The guides caution vistors to not get too close. These cats were raised by people, many of them in people's homes and are very comfortable humans; many lay right up against the fence, or pace you as you walk by, and the tigers will "chuff" in greeting.
But they're very aware that we're made of meat. They're not pet kitties; even the keepers are careful to avoid giving them a chance for a taste. They get regular meals of roadkill and the like, so mostly, they think the humans are more interesting than tasty. Mostly.
Walking by one enclosure, it looked empty, nothing but typical midwestern weeds a couple feet high inside the fence. My husband was a ways behind me. As I passed, behind me, an enormous tiger appeared from the weeds, watching.... How does an orange and black cat as long as a small car hide in a couple of feet of green underbrush? Very well!*
Big predators are beautiful to look at and must be a challenge to hunt, but only an idiot tries to make pets out of 'em. They are happy to eat things about our size, most of which are faster than humans. And while they can be quite clever, they're not thinking very many meals ahead. You're tasty now!
The degree of self-deception that allows people to think they can just play around with such animals stuns me.
...And I may have to rethink visiting Alaska. Tigers on the other side of even a nominal fence are one thing. Bears face to face is another!
--Herself
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* The cats are kept in groups, one bunch per enclosure. In each enclosure is a large cattle-watering tank filled with water and in every enclosure with tigers in it, there really was a "tiger in the tank." Unlike the gas-commercial image, they looked anything but fast and energetic. Most of the tanked tigers were dozing!
An hour's drive from where I live, there is a private facility that cares for former "pet" big cats, mostly lions and tigers, that have outgrown the equally Disneyfied types who thought to make pets of them. The folks who run it are quite fond of big cats but aren't under any illusions about them being oversized housecats. They're open to the public but very un-zoo-like: between you and the cats is nothing but a sturdy chain-link fence, 20' high and with telephone poles for fence poles, along with your own good sense. The guides caution vistors to not get too close. These cats were raised by people, many of them in people's homes and are very comfortable humans; many lay right up against the fence, or pace you as you walk by, and the tigers will "chuff" in greeting.
But they're very aware that we're made of meat. They're not pet kitties; even the keepers are careful to avoid giving them a chance for a taste. They get regular meals of roadkill and the like, so mostly, they think the humans are more interesting than tasty. Mostly.
Walking by one enclosure, it looked empty, nothing but typical midwestern weeds a couple feet high inside the fence. My husband was a ways behind me. As I passed, behind me, an enormous tiger appeared from the weeds, watching.... How does an orange and black cat as long as a small car hide in a couple of feet of green underbrush? Very well!*
Big predators are beautiful to look at and must be a challenge to hunt, but only an idiot tries to make pets out of 'em. They are happy to eat things about our size, most of which are faster than humans. And while they can be quite clever, they're not thinking very many meals ahead. You're tasty now!
The degree of self-deception that allows people to think they can just play around with such animals stuns me.
...And I may have to rethink visiting Alaska. Tigers on the other side of even a nominal fence are one thing. Bears face to face is another!
--Herself
_________________________________
* The cats are kept in groups, one bunch per enclosure. In each enclosure is a large cattle-watering tank filled with water and in every enclosure with tigers in it, there really was a "tiger in the tank." Unlike the gas-commercial image, they looked anything but fast and energetic. Most of the tanked tigers were dozing!