Faye (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
said_scarlett) wrote2005-06-25 09:25 am
said_scarlett) wrote2005-06-25 09:25 am
One Of Those Rare RL Updates!
So, yesterday I went to this privately owned wildlife preserve that deals mainly in large carnivores and African Serengeti herbivores with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lennaofmidearth. The drive out there was a lot longer than we’d expected due to a small directions snafu, and we ended up driving up over a rather impressive mountain range and through a very creepy artists town perched precariously on the edge of said mountains. The whole place has a foreign and Stephen King feel to it, and it isn’t surprising that the place is supposedly haunted.
Upon arriving at the wildlife reserve, we were amazed at how many people weren’t there. The parking lot was practically empty, and there wasn’t much of a line at the ticket counter. I waited whilelennaofmidearth got our passes, and then we waited for the next tram and got some info on the place from the guide who oversaw the loading station. And we found out that today it was the owner himself who was driving the tram.
We loaded up and set off, and the owner (who’s name I forget at the moment) was very talkative and gave an impressive amount of information on the animals. We stopped to get off the tram to visit with the black bears (who cohabitate comfortably with a pair of mountain lions) and watched as our guide for the tour tossed some meat to the bears and then the mountain lions, to demonstrate how well they live together. The idea that was in practice was the idea that animals, if they don’t have to fight for food and territory, won’t. This has been a long spoken and long dismissed belief, due to observations in the wild. I don’t think I need to point out what’s wrong with that.
We moved on to visit the lions - a small pride of Cape Lions - and then to the hyenas where we were in for another interesting demonstration of animal intellect. He had a young girl who was on the tour (probably about twelve or so) join him outside the fence where the hyenas were. She ran along the fence, and the hyena followed after her a bit, and was definitely focused on her. He then got down next to the mesh fencing, called the hyenas over, and scratched them behind their ears. I’ve never heard a hyena moan in happiness before.
Next stop was the nine week old baby Indian tiger. She was hands down one of the cutest things I have ever seen. And she was about three feet away from us, snuggling with her blanket and her English Mastiff baby-sitter. The wife of the owner was looking after her, and she picked her up and the baby tiger made a noise not unlike Théoden’s ‘moo-oom, let me down!’ noise.
We saw the rest of the large carnivores (lions, tigers, jaguars and panther) and made our way to the next leg of our adventure - the simulated African Safari tour through a replication of the African Serengeti. Our tour guide was awesome. We were armed with biscuits to feed the giraffes and a warning to keep shiny things away from the ostriches. And boy did we get a good look at the ostrich! The first one we encounter kept staring atlennaofmidearth. We saw a good number of animals - zebra, sable antelope, wildebeest, gesbah, and giraffe. The giraffe was the animal we got to feed.
The tour guide kept emphasizing how gentle these animals were, and encouraged tour members to place the biscuit lightly between their lips and offer it like that. No one was doing it, but when the giraffe (named Kibu) came to Lenna, she went right ahead and did. And was rewarded with a very non-slobbery giraffe kiss. I did the same and Kibu licked my whole damn face before taking the biscuit. It was definitely an experience!
After the park we headed out to scenic mountain town near by where we had dinner - a damn good dinner, too, followed by dessert) and finally made the long trip home. All in all, it was a damn good day.
lennaofmidearth. The drive out there was a lot longer than we’d expected due to a small directions snafu, and we ended up driving up over a rather impressive mountain range and through a very creepy artists town perched precariously on the edge of said mountains. The whole place has a foreign and Stephen King feel to it, and it isn’t surprising that the place is supposedly haunted. Upon arriving at the wildlife reserve, we were amazed at how many people weren’t there. The parking lot was practically empty, and there wasn’t much of a line at the ticket counter. I waited while
lennaofmidearth got our passes, and then we waited for the next tram and got some info on the place from the guide who oversaw the loading station. And we found out that today it was the owner himself who was driving the tram.We loaded up and set off, and the owner (who’s name I forget at the moment) was very talkative and gave an impressive amount of information on the animals. We stopped to get off the tram to visit with the black bears (who cohabitate comfortably with a pair of mountain lions) and watched as our guide for the tour tossed some meat to the bears and then the mountain lions, to demonstrate how well they live together. The idea that was in practice was the idea that animals, if they don’t have to fight for food and territory, won’t. This has been a long spoken and long dismissed belief, due to observations in the wild. I don’t think I need to point out what’s wrong with that.
We moved on to visit the lions - a small pride of Cape Lions - and then to the hyenas where we were in for another interesting demonstration of animal intellect. He had a young girl who was on the tour (probably about twelve or so) join him outside the fence where the hyenas were. She ran along the fence, and the hyena followed after her a bit, and was definitely focused on her. He then got down next to the mesh fencing, called the hyenas over, and scratched them behind their ears. I’ve never heard a hyena moan in happiness before.
Next stop was the nine week old baby Indian tiger. She was hands down one of the cutest things I have ever seen. And she was about three feet away from us, snuggling with her blanket and her English Mastiff baby-sitter. The wife of the owner was looking after her, and she picked her up and the baby tiger made a noise not unlike Théoden’s ‘moo-oom, let me down!’ noise.
We saw the rest of the large carnivores (lions, tigers, jaguars and panther) and made our way to the next leg of our adventure - the simulated African Safari tour through a replication of the African Serengeti. Our tour guide was awesome. We were armed with biscuits to feed the giraffes and a warning to keep shiny things away from the ostriches. And boy did we get a good look at the ostrich! The first one we encounter kept staring at
lennaofmidearth. We saw a good number of animals - zebra, sable antelope, wildebeest, gesbah, and giraffe. The giraffe was the animal we got to feed.The tour guide kept emphasizing how gentle these animals were, and encouraged tour members to place the biscuit lightly between their lips and offer it like that. No one was doing it, but when the giraffe (named Kibu) came to Lenna, she went right ahead and did. And was rewarded with a very non-slobbery giraffe kiss. I did the same and Kibu licked my whole damn face before taking the biscuit. It was definitely an experience!
After the park we headed out to scenic mountain town near by where we had dinner - a damn good dinner, too, followed by dessert) and finally made the long trip home. All in all, it was a damn good day.
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OMG! Baby tiger♥
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YES! So cute!
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And all joking about my many nick names aside, I really don't care for that one, you know. "Bear" is just fine. ^_^
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Oh, okay. I can never tell if you're being serious or joking or whatever. Sorry. I shall think of something you like more.
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I know. Many people have said that they can't tell either, and most likely people will continue to say so. *shrugs* Things generally get worked out in the end. I already have a ton of nicknames! You could go back to "Bad Jew-Monkey-Donught."
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But that's so long and cumbersome!
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Uh, there is always "Bear," the first and best nickname. There's also "Kari-dragons" if you like. ^_^
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Kari-dragons works. I would call you by your star wars name, but I have already forgotten it, because I am stupid.
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Alrighty. ^_^ I think it was Gre-Kai Rumin.
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Ah yes, that's right! Master Gre-Kai.
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Yup. Fear me with my Master-Jedi-ness and my green lightsaber!
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There may be, depending on how they came out. :D
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Of course this whole time I was writing the comment, Theo was making "pay attention to meeeeeeeeeee" noises, just in case I'd forgotten what he sounds like. He was helping. *g*
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Heehee. Silly Theo...
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Giraffes are really awesome animals. And they are very pretty. It's one of those things I never realized until I saw one right up close. I've fed them at the San Diego Wild Animal park, but nothing near like what we did yesterday!
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That sounds totally kickass, lucky you! :D (And given that we decided big aggressive male tiger = Theo-cat x 50, I'm not surprised the baby made similar noises too. ^_~)
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It was a random thing, too. I found it online when I was looking for things for Lenna and I to do over her vacation.