What do you look like?

That is so cool! I love tigers. Well, all cats, really. I'd love to have my picture with a tiger. Maybe not on my shoulder like that. Maybe just petting it. I'd love to pet a tiger. Leonardo had stripes. Sometimes I used to pretend that he was a tiger. :rockon:

 

P.S. Just so we're clear, I know perfectly well that tigers are dangerous and you can't just go around petting them, and I would never reach through the fence or bars to touch a tiger. Leonardo would have been maniacally dangerous if he had been tiger size. Or even bobcat size. Fortunately, he was house cat size.

But at Australia zoo, outside of Brisbane, for about $400 (last time I looked) they would allow a group of up to four people to come into the zoo early and walk with a tiger before opening time. A handler on each side holds a leash, and you get to pet the tiger, but not touch its head. A photographer comes alone, and the photos are included in the price. But by the time I made up my mind to do it, the one day I had available was already taken.

At the Calgary zoo I was able to come right up close to the tiger because there was just a chain link fence and the tiger was right at the fence. I did not attempt to touch. I was not even tempted. I still miss Leonardo, though. He was the next best thing to a tiger.

 

Several decades ago, an outfit showed up at the shopping mall 30 miles from where I lived, and set up big cages in the hallway. They had several big cats, and several cubs. The adult cats were for show only, but they were taking people's pictures with the cubs. There was a lion cub, days old, and a tiger cub, a couple of weeks old. They were very professional. Set the cub in someone's lap, paws facing away, let go, snap the picture, and grab the kitty. It took an eyeblink.

Digital photography did not yet exist and I was a very strict vegetarian. I eat fish now, but in those days I ate no meat, fish, or fowl, I wore no leather, fur, or down, and if bread touched meat, I would not eat the bread. I was very strict. I did not eat refined sugar because the refining process used bone char. (Some sugar companies have changed to a non-anilam process.)

And I did not do photography or willingly allow myself to be photographed because photographic emulsion is made of gelatin.

So I did not get my picture taken with the tiger cub.

I've regretted it ever since.

I've heard that before. A big-cat trainer once told me that. And I've read it here and there. And that's why I know how dangerous tigers are. My cat would jump at ghosts, or pounce on me with no warning. If he'd been 500 pounds rather than 6 or 7, I would not have lived long.

I have a picture of my sister holding an ocelot that belonged to the photographer.

I'd go to Tiger Temple if Thailand was not so dang far away.