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| I can't even....!! |
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| Ok, ok, these are teasers... haha! Here we go, from the beginning: |
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| We took a taxi to Tiger Kingdom. I checked in advance, and the don't take advance reservations, so we made sure to get there soon after they open. Can you tell that I'm just a bid excited here? :) The deal is this: you select which tigers you want to visit, from: small, medium, large, and smallest. You get 10 minutes in the cage, trainers come in with you, and you have the option of getting a professional photographer as well and then get your photos on CD. We chose to see smallest (natch!), small, and large, and got a photographer for smallest and large. Overall price was roughly $125 for each of us. Best. Money. I've. Ever. Spent.!!!! |
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| After a friend mentioned that some of these types of placed had been shut down in the past for animal maltreatment, I was a bit apprehensive, and was highly attuned to the surroundings and how the animals were being treated. Happy to report that from my (highly unscientific) investigation, the place seems to do a super good job! The tigers have access both to the enclosures where we go in to see them, but also to outdoor space. To the possibility that they're drugged to allow the public to manhandle them... I really truly doubt it. One of the most amazing things was that tigers act in so many ways exactly like their much smaller (and more spoiled) domestic counterparts. So we saw tigers snoozing (and the trainers did a great job leaving ones alone who were clearly not in the mood), being sleep (you know, like cats are - they both sleep 18 hrs a day!), playing, washing, walking around... |
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| This guy was getting all comfy in his cage. :) |
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| Ok, ok, time to go in! We are asked to read the rules several times - the sign above was outside, as you buy your tickets (I love the first line!! haha!) - but there was also additional rules they had us read - like only approach the tigers from behind, don't touch the paws or the head (though the trainers explicitly told us we could do this with the babies.... squeeee!) |
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| In we went! For the babies (under 4-5 months old), they had us not only wash our hands first, but also put on slippers - I'm guessing so that we don't make the little ones sick w/ whatever we bring in on our shoes. We were led into a fairly sizable room, divided in 2 by table in the middle. There were 2 little guys hanging out in two corners, and we were led to the one who was snoozing The trainers were all super friendly and directed us to rub his belly. TIGER BELLY RUBS!!! I mean.. just look at him!!! |
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| The photographer then had us take turns cuddling the baby. He told me I could touch the paw - super soft! In fact, these little guys' fur overall was quite soft. Just a warm puddle of sleepy warm cuteness! |
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| I was art-directed to make a tail-mustache. With the baby tiger's tail...!!!!! Just look at those massive paws. I mean... yow! Is this guy ever going to grow into them... tee hee!! |
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| Apparently the whole hour or so that we were in there overall I had this ridiculous grin going on.... |
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| Orny's turn |
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| He got directed to touch the head! No fair.... haha! :) I love this picture. I kinda want to go back again now...! |
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| The people playing with the other baby on the other side of the room left, and that guy got bored and came over to visit. At first we were like - uh-oh... |
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| But the trainer said it was ok, and just for us to make sure not to let the lick or bite us, since they're training them to not do that (and though it may be super cute when they're babies.... dot dot dot) |
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| But chewing on each other is a-ok! The poor sleeping guy wasn't going to be sleeping for long... |
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| "get OFF! moooooom!" |
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| "ok, i'll paw right back atcha!" They were playing - just like kittens, same movements, same silliness... except, you know... they were TIGERS! :) |
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| We hadn't initially noticed, but there was an adjoining space with another baby. The trainer said that she's teething, and gave us a nice thick stick to play with. Arrrrrr! (and - look at that belly!!!!) |
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| Play-time! |
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| "Here, little one... want a nice big stick to chew on??" |
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| "No!! I want to chew on the little stick!!" |
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| Apparently this is me demonstrating the mouth action of how to chew on the big stick... |
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| aaaaand... here we go! |
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| Such a cutie!! But time to say goodbye.... |
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| Big tiger - my, you're big! |
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| The trainer emphasized to only approach from behind, and told to pick up the tail - this thing was *heavy*! and, in typical kitty fashion, this guy thwacked me on the nose with it. |
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| wash-time! |
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| Naturally, the bigger tigers' fur is much more wiry and not quite as soft as the babies'. But we were still totally into it. |
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| There were several tigers in this enclosure too, and the trainers had us pet several of them. |
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| Approved paw paw-ing - and some belly action! |
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| Time to say goodbye to this guy and let him snooze. |
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| The last one we saw - she had a huge ice cube placed behind her butt - must have been nice on such a hot day. |
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| Yaaaaawn! |
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| She's getting sleepy... |
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| Yea, time for a nap - and some belly rubs! |
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| OMG that's some good belly! |
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| Reinforcements arrive - so much belly to rub! :) And just like that, it's over. Utterly incredible experience. Wish it wasn't such a (relative) pain getting there, I'd consider going again... And THAT, folks, is how you get a squee of a lifetime! :) :) :) |
This was a double squee for me: obviously, tigers!!!, but also being able to be there to see and enjoy how excited you were. The photos really capture your amazement and excitement, which is thoroughly precious. It was worth the 72 hours of sleepless flying to be able to share that with you in-person. Squee of a lifetime, indeed!
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