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Group Writing: Playing with Tigers
Have you ever had a moment when you realized that you made a decision to do something incredibly stupid and wondered if you had gone temporarily insane?
I didn’t think I was the only one.
And yet, in the moment, it was too good an opportunity to pass up.
We were on a trip in Thailand and on a whim, our tour guide (who had also become our friend) suggested we take a side trip that hadn’t been on our agenda. We were intrigued so, of course, we agreed to go.
The side trip was to the Tiger Temple, a refuge for tigers managed by a group of Thai monks. The refuge was created when a Thai came to the temple with a tiger cub that he had captured in the forest; he realized that the larger the tiger became, the more unmanageable and dangerous it would be. He was reluctant to abandon it in the wild (possibly thinking it had lost its natural instinct to hunt for food) and left it with the monks. It didn’t take long for the word to get out to other foolish Thais who had also adopted tigers that they had a place to take their cubs-becoming-adult tigers.
And the monks took each one in.
Over time the temple adopted many tigers, who also bred and had more cubs. (There’s no wild creature more adorable than a tiger cub.)
On the day we arrived at the temple, we had an opportunity to meet privately with the abbot of the temple. After a brief chat, he invited us to visit the tigers, which were in large cages. He explained that they took the animals regularly on leashes into an uninhabited area nearby, removed the leashes and the tigers were able to roam freely. The monks had developed such a rapport with the tigers that they could pet and scratch the animals and they responded to their instructions.
As we approached the cages, the abbot told us that he could bring out two cats, one for my husband and one for me. He would temporarily put each one on a heavy chain which he wrapped around two trees, and we would be able to pet them.
Pet them?
Of course, my husband jumped at the chance, while I consented a bit reluctantly. The abbot asked us to stand nearby as he connected each tiger to a chain, and then asked each of us to approach the tiger from behind; the tiger would hear but not see us. If the tiger turned to look at us, the abbot would gently push his head forward so that it wouldn’t mistake us for dessert. Then the abbot told us we could pet the tiger.
So I did.
The hair was coarse to the touch. Underneath my hand, I could feel the incredible strength of the tiger emanating from his body. I continued to stand there, mesmerized by the markings of the beast and the unbelievable power of the moment. Finally, I stepped aside and away. The tiger meanwhile had tried to get a look at me a couple of times, but each time the abbot calmly moved the tiger’s head forward.
I will never forget that magical and foolish moment.
Would I do it again if I had the opportunity? . . .
I also just remembered that I had an elephant step on me once. A story for another time . . .
[Eventually, swindlers tried to take over the management of the Temple and pushed the abbot aside, creating a tourist attraction. After their actions were discovered by the authorities, including abuse of the tigers, the temple was closed down and the tigers distributed to facilities where they could be properly cared for.]
Published in Group Writing
Eaten by Tiger. What a way to go. Pretty damn cool really.
They’re just big kitties.
Yikes!! I doubt he lived to tell the tale! Or he didn’t bite down!
Yeah, right . . . ;-)
Paging @randyweivoda
They are.
He might have done both. Have you ever had a cat?
TOO CUTE!! Sorta . . .
I grew up with cats, but they were kitties, not carnivorous . . .
All cats are obligate carnivores. It’s just the size of the prey. But cats will put up with and seek out some very strange activities from their favored human companions. Our Miss O’Malley likes to have her tail bopped. That will get her purring. Morgana likes to have her paws hit. Maybe that tiger likes the attention of getting his tail chomped?
Great story and how lucky you are to have petted a tiger. Nature outdid herself on tigers, both young and old. When you are up close like that, you realize how big, powerful and beautiful they really are.
When I was in South Africa, I went to a cheetah rescue. They took us into a large enclosure with two cheetahs, a big male and a female. They called the male and he came running across the enclosure. A frisson went through the core of my being, watching that big cat run towards me, and he was tiny compared to an adult tiger. He stopped as he was quite tame, but I had an appreciation for our ancestors out there on the African plain. There is a reason we have no domestic cat equivalent of the Great Dane!
Except we sort of do. Do you know how many pet tigers there are in the US?
And that’s not to mention the other big cats (or largest of the small cats).
Could have been worse.
Yes, some of my best stories and memories come from such times. Because if you do not take risks you do not gather rewards. Also true some of my worse stories and memories come from such times. It is sort of graded on a bell curve.
No kidding! That must have been an awesome experience, GC! Of course, Great Danes are really big babies.
Not a domestic cat by any means.
I understand that cheetahs can be tamed, and that records of humans taming them go back to Ancient Egypt. What no one has been able to do is domesticate them. It is likely impossible.
The last part of the post, regarding placement of the tigers in places where they can “be properly cared for,” gets me to thinking.
It’s interesting to me that many people think that it’s worthwhile to expend resources caring for animals that, presumably, cannot survive in the wild. This is doubly odd when the animals are dangerous.
I wonder whether people used to do such things in the past.
It seems to me that resources are limited, and there are plenty of people in need. I have the impression that fairly large numbers of people care more about animals than they care about other people. This troubles me.
There are many people who care more about animals than other people.
I agree with you, Jerry. So many people are committed to saving species, and yet we know that species come and go. Some will survive, others will pass away. And I love animals, too, although my last visit to a zoo was disappointing for a number of reasons.
It is also sad that people treat animals as if they were people. I loved our dog, but she was not a person!
Domestic cats aren’t really domestic, either.
Yes, Jerry. History is full of recorded examples.
Ever hear of a national leader who was anti-smoking and for animal rights, so much so that he was a strict vegetarian? His birthday was just a couple of days ago. Name slips my mind at the moment. Schicklegruber, perhaps.
I’m guessing this is the wrong crowd to bring up the TV series Tiger King?
I know Mike Tyson had one. The tiger was probably more scared of “Iron Mike” than Tyson was of the tiger.
My wife would claim it was me when I proposed, and her when she accepted . . .
He should have been.