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Photography / Animal related (non-anthro)
Species Leopard
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Okay. This one goes out to everyone who's ever wanted to hug a kitty and never had the chance!
This is /not/ a "look at me" picture. This is to help /you/ to imagine yourself exactly where I am, as in, in your mind's eye, take me out of the picture, and put yourself in there instead. That's what this pic is all about. It's about the honor and excitement of being with a truly magnificent animal.
I put this picture up for a few reasons: A) because Sir Kaine wanted to give Macumba a hug, and this one will help him - and everyone else, I hope - visualize doing exactly that, and B) because this picture is proof that with a lot of hard work, you /can/ live your dreams, whatever they might be. Take it from me. I've had a lot of dreams in my life's journey. Some of them have come true, and some, I'm still working towards.
So this goes out to everyone that has a dream, whether it's animal related or not. Live your dreams! That's what life's really all about.
This pic is just me and Macumba out on a walk. Sometimes he get upset about something - he's extremely intimidated by tigers - and sometimes, he just needs a hug. I, of course, and more than happy to give him one. :)
This picture was taken 09-Jul-05. The image was taken with a Canon EOS 10D and the EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM lens. The original was taken at full frame of 3072x2048x24b, ISO eqv 400, 1/180 shutter, f/5.6. This image was cropped and shrunken down for space conservation.
Disclaimer: I hate to have to put this on here, but the pic is copyright me. Please do not distribute, copy, alter, etc, without my permission. Having said all that, feel free to download and use it for your own inspiration.
This is /not/ a "look at me" picture. This is to help /you/ to imagine yourself exactly where I am, as in, in your mind's eye, take me out of the picture, and put yourself in there instead. That's what this pic is all about. It's about the honor and excitement of being with a truly magnificent animal.
I put this picture up for a few reasons: A) because Sir Kaine wanted to give Macumba a hug, and this one will help him - and everyone else, I hope - visualize doing exactly that, and B) because this picture is proof that with a lot of hard work, you /can/ live your dreams, whatever they might be. Take it from me. I've had a lot of dreams in my life's journey. Some of them have come true, and some, I'm still working towards.
So this goes out to everyone that has a dream, whether it's animal related or not. Live your dreams! That's what life's really all about.
This pic is just me and Macumba out on a walk. Sometimes he get upset about something - he's extremely intimidated by tigers - and sometimes, he just needs a hug. I, of course, and more than happy to give him one. :)
This picture was taken 09-Jul-05. The image was taken with a Canon EOS 10D and the EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM lens. The original was taken at full frame of 3072x2048x24b, ISO eqv 400, 1/180 shutter, f/5.6. This image was cropped and shrunken down for space conservation.
Disclaimer: I hate to have to put this on here, but the pic is copyright me. Please do not distribute, copy, alter, etc, without my permission. Having said all that, feel free to download and use it for your own inspiration.
Category Photography / Animal related (non-anthro)
Species Leopard
Size 1024 x 821px
File Size 110.6 kB
Well, I hope you can picture yourself there with him!
Not that I'm biased or anything, but I'm thrilled that you're becoming so taken with cougars. They're really amazing animals, even comparing to many of the other cat species. As I've said a hundred time, I'll probably always bleed cougar blood. :)
Someday, if you want it bad enough, you'll find a way to live your dream. Just keep it all in focus, and you'll get there!
Not that I'm biased or anything, but I'm thrilled that you're becoming so taken with cougars. They're really amazing animals, even comparing to many of the other cat species. As I've said a hundred time, I'll probably always bleed cougar blood. :)
Someday, if you want it bad enough, you'll find a way to live your dream. Just keep it all in focus, and you'll get there!
I only have a few pix of walks with the wolves. Most of the time, it all happened inside the cages with them, and you wouldn't dare take a camera in with you, as they'd steal it, and you'd find it a year later when they dug it up again! :)
The hugs with the wolves were just the same. In fact, in some ways, they were better, as the wolves enjoyed hugging you back in their own ways, whether a hearty muzzle greeting, or literally grasping onto you with forepaws.
Wolves too, are very awesome creatures!
The hugs with the wolves were just the same. In fact, in some ways, they were better, as the wolves enjoyed hugging you back in their own ways, whether a hearty muzzle greeting, or literally grasping onto you with forepaws.
Wolves too, are very awesome creatures!
I've done a lot of time at Feline Conservation Center, and they used to have a really friendly Ocelot whose favorite thing in the universe was to suck on fingers. No one knows why. She'd just suck away while you petted her with the other hand.
Priceless experience, huh? You'll definitely have something that you'll remember forever, which is what's the most important. :)
Priceless experience, huh? You'll definitely have something that you'll remember forever, which is what's the most important. :)
Peaches (she was as old as me when I went there). I wish I had a scanner so I could post the polaroid. I also ended up with a large photo of the three jaguar cubs from the raffle. Well, they were cubs the last time I went to the FCC/EFBC. I used to live about an hour away from there. It was my first good look at a serval.
Cool! I grew up in Bakersfield, and then relocated to Santa Cruz at 15, so I consider myself a Santa Cruzian. :)
The Navy took me everywhere, and still is, which is why I'm on the east coast now. I miss CA a lot.
I'm glad you know of FCC. It's a great facility with an excelent staff.
The Navy took me everywhere, and still is, which is why I'm on the east coast now. I miss CA a lot.
I'm glad you know of FCC. It's a great facility with an excelent staff.
Oh my GOD. ;_; You're such an incredible person for posting this, and I for one appriate your reasons, as well as your motivation. It's truly inspirational..
Now I must ask: Is it as soft as I think? I always figured that doing something like that would get you mauled. :3 Does he respond well to it?
Now I must ask: Is it as soft as I think? I always figured that doing something like that would get you mauled. :3 Does he respond well to it?
With most animals, it's all about trust. As a general rule, they don't like being "restrained", and there's a fine dividing line between "hug" and "retrain". That's where trust comes in.
Leopards are a little weird. They have what most leopard handlers call The Chosen One. In the simplest of terms it's the person that they've bonded with. With leopards, they only bond with one, or a very few. Everyone else is either a play toy or food, depending on their mood.
In my case, Macumba's my buddy and I'm his Chosen One, which means that I can do almost anything to him and he doesn't care or tolerates it with only a little grumble. I can pry his maw open and check his teeth, handle his paws, play with his tail, stick my finger in his nose, wipe his eyes, and sometimes even scratch his underside. All that being said, Macumba doesn't mind hugs at all. He seems to like them most of the time, except for the fact that I don't let him "hug" me back (for prudent safety).
Big cat fur isn't nearly as soft as domestics. It's still soft comparing to even human hair, but it's a lot more course than the small cats.
I'm glad you like the pic. I hope your imagination does well with it. :)
Leopards are a little weird. They have what most leopard handlers call The Chosen One. In the simplest of terms it's the person that they've bonded with. With leopards, they only bond with one, or a very few. Everyone else is either a play toy or food, depending on their mood.
In my case, Macumba's my buddy and I'm his Chosen One, which means that I can do almost anything to him and he doesn't care or tolerates it with only a little grumble. I can pry his maw open and check his teeth, handle his paws, play with his tail, stick my finger in his nose, wipe his eyes, and sometimes even scratch his underside. All that being said, Macumba doesn't mind hugs at all. He seems to like them most of the time, except for the fact that I don't let him "hug" me back (for prudent safety).
Big cat fur isn't nearly as soft as domestics. It's still soft comparing to even human hair, but it's a lot more course than the small cats.
I'm glad you like the pic. I hope your imagination does well with it. :)
The Chosen One principle is the same with jaguars. Our black jaguar only ever worked with our one trainer Chris. There were a few others that could walk him but not much else. Both leopards and jaguars are completely solitary in the wild, and have never developed submissive/dominance mind set as more social cats like lions or tigers have.
Well, unfortunately, none of the panthera genus cats can purr; they can only roar. Leopards and jags have somewhat of a grumble/growl that they do when they're happy that's more or less the equivalent, just like a tiger's "chuff".
I have a few cougar purrs and chirps, and a couple tiger chuffs that I'll eventually post on here as .mp3's, so then everyone will have a crude sample of a few of the big cat sounds, although it's still nothing like being there and hearing it up-close-and-personal. :)
I have a few cougar purrs and chirps, and a couple tiger chuffs that I'll eventually post on here as .mp3's, so then everyone will have a crude sample of a few of the big cat sounds, although it's still nothing like being there and hearing it up-close-and-personal. :)
Whoa. I wants to do that! Yes, I know, I'm supposed to imagine that I'm the one in the pic, and I get some idea of it from hugging my dog, I guess, but even so.
How do the cats react to such a human form of a hug? Do they find it comforting? Well, I guess it would depend on the cat's personality. Do some species of the cats you work with react differently to hugs as compared to others?
How do the cats react to such a human form of a hug? Do they find it comforting? Well, I guess it would depend on the cat's personality. Do some species of the cats you work with react differently to hugs as compared to others?
Under Fen4554 above, I went into a little as they asked a similar question. :)
Most do really well, as cats are /not/ anti-social as is commonly believed. They are solitary, because if they weren't, they'd totally de-prey and entire area, which wouldn't be good. So for the most part, they enjoy hugs as long as they trust you; animals don't like to be restrained, and there's a find dividing line between "hug" and "trapped".
But you're exactly right, and it depends on the personality. Dagger, for example, trusted me just fine (eventually), but had I ever hugged him, I'd find my corpse laying on the ground in the middle of his cage, and my head would have become his next football. :) Tigers also like to hug, but if you consider than in raw strength, they're about 20-times our strength, a hug from them can be dangerous just because of sheer weight and horsepower. Even so, most tigers - animals in general - seem to be very aware of their strength versus ours. Sage is a great example.
His entire mission if you're in the cage with him is to get a hug and to give one in return. He's hugged me a few times, and as he's an aduly, 200lb cougar, it's a bit intimidating, but he's always been extremely gentle, if not "tender" with his hugs.
It all goes as more proof that, I think, they're a lot smarter than science and most people give them credit for.
I hope that helps to answer the questions, and definitely read Fen's and my dialog above. :)
Most do really well, as cats are /not/ anti-social as is commonly believed. They are solitary, because if they weren't, they'd totally de-prey and entire area, which wouldn't be good. So for the most part, they enjoy hugs as long as they trust you; animals don't like to be restrained, and there's a find dividing line between "hug" and "trapped".
But you're exactly right, and it depends on the personality. Dagger, for example, trusted me just fine (eventually), but had I ever hugged him, I'd find my corpse laying on the ground in the middle of his cage, and my head would have become his next football. :) Tigers also like to hug, but if you consider than in raw strength, they're about 20-times our strength, a hug from them can be dangerous just because of sheer weight and horsepower. Even so, most tigers - animals in general - seem to be very aware of their strength versus ours. Sage is a great example.
His entire mission if you're in the cage with him is to get a hug and to give one in return. He's hugged me a few times, and as he's an aduly, 200lb cougar, it's a bit intimidating, but he's always been extremely gentle, if not "tender" with his hugs.
It all goes as more proof that, I think, they're a lot smarter than science and most people give them credit for.
I hope that helps to answer the questions, and definitely read Fen's and my dialog above. :)
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