Playing with Tiger and Liger

Did not know where else to post this.  For my wife's 40th I took her to a local animal park.  She has always wanted run her fingers through a lion's mane and pet a tiger.  We were escorted through the park by the owner and after our tour was over she said, "Since it is a special day for you, why don't you come back here for a closer "look" at one of the animals.  We were brought next to a cage and the 17wk old Liger cub named Radar rubbed the fence right in front of us.  All the while, two of the handlers were walking up behind her with these two cubs.  The one on the left is a 8 week old Liger cub named Lil' Wayne and the one on the right is a 6 week old White Bengal  Tiger cub named Miracle.  We got to play with them for about 20 minutes and had a BALL!!!!
 


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Love playing that string music and sending a Muzzy flying!

Cool picture!  Thanks for sharing!
 
Just remember:  Cute now, KILLERS later!
 
Take care and Good Hunting!
 
Best Afield,
 
Steve

Clear back in 1988, I was stationed at Mare Island Naval Base. There was a wild animal park near there, can't remember the name.
 
Anyway, I was walking through it one day and around the corner came this HUGE Bengal Tiger, probably 400 pounds plus, just walking along like somebodies dog out for a stroll.
ALL BY HIMSELF.
 
I must have thought that if he was okay to be out on his own, then he was TAME. Silly me. Thankfully he was, sort of. I didn't give it any thought, I just went over and started loving on him.
 
I was petting him and wrestling on the ground with him. He was totally cool. About five minutes later a whole group of keepers, two of them armed with tranq guns and several more with high powered rifles came running around the corner.
I heard one of them yell something about HANG ON! WE ARE COMING!
 
I rolled over and looked at them, with the Tiger half on top of me and saw all the guns.
 
I yelled at them to stop, I was okay, and got up to prove it. Another couple of seconds and it would have gotten WAY ugly.
 
I got between them and the tiger and made them lower their guns. I explained that I was just playing with him and there wasn't anything to be afraid of. He kind of stood behind me like he knew there might be trouble and I was trying to help. The keepers kept yelling at me to get out of the way, but I refused. They finally got the hint and calmed down.
 
I ended up walking him back to his cage and playing with him there for a little bit longer while all kinds of people were standing around kind of freaking out.
 
Turns out that this particular tiger had been part of an attempt at raising a cub and trying to re-aclimate it to for release into the wild.
He had not been successful enough for release, but was still considered to be more wild than tame and NOBODY got into his reach.
 
Until me. His keepers had made a mistake in their safety protocols, and when they cleaned out his main pen they forgot to lock the access door. He walked right out it and into my life.
If he had stumbled across somebody who got scared and took off running, it might have been a bad thing all the way around. I treated him like I had no fear, and he responded the same.
 
I used to go and play with him every few weeks, I was the only one that they would allow in there, and then only with SEVERAL guards. I never needed any. He was my buddy. Rajah.
 
When I was discharged I left the area and never saw him again, but I never forget him.
 
That is one of the "wild" animal memories that I have accumulated over the years.

Holy Jimminy!!
 
That's an awesome story, but always remember that these animals are natural born killers and they can and will revert back to their primal instincts without prejudice or an afterthought in less than a heartbeat.  Just ask Roy Horn from famed Las Vegas tiger trainers and entertainers Siegfried and Roy.  He nearly lost his life when one of their tigers went on the attack for no apparent reason.  It nearly cost him his life.
 
Thanks for sharing your story with us.
 
Take care and Good Hunting!
 
Best Afield,
 
Steve

I had a friend down here in Houston,Tx that owned a bar called the Tiger Bar. She had 2 Bengals named Hope and Michelle. Hope being the male. We used to play with them all the time. You have never experienced power until you have been a playtoy for a 700lb tiger. Everytime Michelle got knocked up though, she wanted nothing to do with men at all. LOL And both could tell when a women had her monthly. They both got real nervous. Not sure if it was the smell or what. She also had a Black mane African lion named Valentino that was blind and his best friend was a chihauhua.

Man, I'm glad you handled that the way you did.  That could have been ugly if they had not listened to you.  Sometimes it seems as though there is a certain chemistry between an animal and a person.  However, as Steve said, they can turn killer in an instant as evidenced in the chimpanzee attack last week.  What a shame!!!

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06

Some really neat stories there....

Old Cowboys never die, they just keep riding the Range.

Amazin' tales, is whut I'd consider 'em ... tnx for sharin' 'em, folks ...

All of life is six-to-five against, just enough to keep you interested. (Damon Runyan)

Gravity makes all the important decisions ... (John R. Powers)

NRA, REMF, PF, NAHC-L, NAFC-L, KC, NPPA

Bowman,

That is an awesome thing you and the Mrs did. I have always wanted to do something like that!!! I am sure that you both will remember that trip for the rest of your lives!!! Kodo's to the owner for letting you handle the cubs, he must be a very decent person!!!

regards,

martin

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."