Bryan W. Alaspa 1A trip to the zoo
August 24th 2009 13:36
I spent the weekend, or at least part of it, at the Milwaukee County Zoo with my family and my niece. There is nothing quite like a zoo. It is both fascinating and profoundly sad. Yes, it is great to see these wonderful animals up close and personal, at the same time some part of you has to wonder if the animal wouldn’t be just a little bit happier if it were roaming in its actually habitat and not running around in a simulated habitat in the Wisconsin climate.
The best part of the whole visit, at least for me, was the visit to the big cat house. It was just around feeding time and the cats were up and around instead of sleeping. The life of a cat, be it big or otherwise, is an amazing thing. Cats sleep something like twenty hours a day. During the time when they are active, however, they are so active and use so much energy that they need to sleep that much. At least, that is what I have always heard, but maybe cats just have a great PR agency.
The tigers they had there were gorgeous. There was one outside and there was one inside. Both of them were up and about and walking around. Both of them looked like they knew the people were there, their faces pressed against the glass, and so they were determined to give people a show. The one inside was spending time looking right at the audience with its gorgeous face, as if trying to telegraph the idea that he may have been locked up here with them, but it could just as easily be the other way around.
The thing about the big cats was that they were definitely powerful. You could see that just by looking at them. Those tigers were enormous. When they yawned it looked like they had knives in their mouths. It got me thinking about the people who seem to think it’s OK to have these animals as pets. I was there shaking my head at the conceit of these people. How could they think, no matter how much they tried to raise the animal from birth, that they have formed some kind of bond is beyond me.
A wild animal is a wild animal. Some animals have been domesticated but I would not consider a tiger or jaguar or lion among them. Yes, I have seen the video of the grown up lion who runs over to the two men that raised it as a cub and start hugging them. Yes, it made me tear up and wonder about nature. At the same time I couldn’t help but wonder if those guys wandered back there again if that lion, were it hungry enough, might not take a bite or two out of them.
Wild animals are always going to think like wild animals. There are people who are out there who think they can raise bears and tigers and jaguars and cougars. They think that they are like their house cats. Then they act shocked when those animals revert back to their actual instincts and their normal state of being and attack. Of course, even a playful swipe by a full grown tiger is likely to do quite a bit of damage to a person.
So, keep the wild animals in the wild or maybe at the zoos where people who are trained to feed them and be with them can do it. Some guy with a big cage in his backyard is probably not the best candidate. Then again, they deserve whatever they get, which might be to see those giant teeth up close.
The best part of the whole visit, at least for me, was the visit to the big cat house. It was just around feeding time and the cats were up and around instead of sleeping. The life of a cat, be it big or otherwise, is an amazing thing. Cats sleep something like twenty hours a day. During the time when they are active, however, they are so active and use so much energy that they need to sleep that much. At least, that is what I have always heard, but maybe cats just have a great PR agency.
The tigers they had there were gorgeous. There was one outside and there was one inside. Both of them were up and about and walking around. Both of them looked like they knew the people were there, their faces pressed against the glass, and so they were determined to give people a show. The one inside was spending time looking right at the audience with its gorgeous face, as if trying to telegraph the idea that he may have been locked up here with them, but it could just as easily be the other way around.
The thing about the big cats was that they were definitely powerful. You could see that just by looking at them. Those tigers were enormous. When they yawned it looked like they had knives in their mouths. It got me thinking about the people who seem to think it’s OK to have these animals as pets. I was there shaking my head at the conceit of these people. How could they think, no matter how much they tried to raise the animal from birth, that they have formed some kind of bond is beyond me.
A wild animal is a wild animal. Some animals have been domesticated but I would not consider a tiger or jaguar or lion among them. Yes, I have seen the video of the grown up lion who runs over to the two men that raised it as a cub and start hugging them. Yes, it made me tear up and wonder about nature. At the same time I couldn’t help but wonder if those guys wandered back there again if that lion, were it hungry enough, might not take a bite or two out of them.
Wild animals are always going to think like wild animals. There are people who are out there who think they can raise bears and tigers and jaguars and cougars. They think that they are like their house cats. Then they act shocked when those animals revert back to their actual instincts and their normal state of being and attack. Of course, even a playful swipe by a full grown tiger is likely to do quite a bit of damage to a person.
So, keep the wild animals in the wild or maybe at the zoos where people who are trained to feed them and be with them can do it. Some guy with a big cage in his backyard is probably not the best candidate. Then again, they deserve whatever they get, which might be to see those giant teeth up close.
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