Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Tiger cubs attempt zoo-break

Tigers are crafty little creatures. On a recent trip to Cougar Mountain Zoo I captured photographic evidence to prove this hypothesis.

Watch as these two 11 week old cubs plan and execute an escape attempt.

Ever wary zoo general curator Robyn Barfoot, foiled said attempt.

UPDATE: 8-Sep-2k9 Enlarged to 600x400 slide show


Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Encounter with a Bengal Tiger

Once in a lifetime...
Hardly! I will do this again if I am able.

His "nickname" is Titan, he does not yet have a formal name. There is a contest the zoo is putting on to give him an official name. Tigers deserve names that befit them.

Very playful little guy (18kg) at 11 weeks. The fur isn't soft like a kitten, but slightly wiry. Under the fur, its all muscle. Sasha said he was doing the "tigger" thing today, bounding around. At just under 3 months old he is definitely a tiger. The experience was very much like playing with a 10-12 month old German Shepard puppy. You KNOW he is powerful, and must respect him (he deserves that).

Robyn's friendly reminder "18 claws and 30 teeth" rings in my ears. He did charge me a few times and brushed me with his paw, his claws retracted. He knows that he is just playing with me, the stuffted toy will not fare so well.





Saturday, August 8, 2009

Tiger Cubs - August 8, 2009


These little guys are too photogenic.

All 20 lbs, 18 claws and 30 teeth. (Thanks Robyn)

On Tuesday I get to play with the orange one. They don't have names yet.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Cubs

The new cubs at Cougar Mtn Zoo are just too adorable to not photograph.