any "big cat" lovers?

sarecho7280 · #1 (**permalink**) 03-23-2007, 04:21 AM

i've always been partial to the siberian lynx and cougars, but would love to gain experience with the truly "big cats" one day in the not-so-near future.

deadliestformula · #2 (**permalink**) 03-23-2007, 04:29 AM

There is a little place just outside of St Louis Missouri, in a town called Stanton near Meramac Caverns called the Reptile Ranch. There they have 2 tigers (a Bengal and a Siberian) as well as a lion. The keepers will play with them, and you can get within 6 ft of them. Much neater way of viewing them than a zoo. They use voluenteers to staff the place.
Another place is located near Wentzville Mo (north of STL) that is a big cat sanctuary. They supposedly have more animals than you'd even imagine, but they also take in rescues. And plenty of voluenteers.
Apparently in the area north of STL, the laws restricting ownership are very lax, so they are more common there.

MAG_Pythons · #3 (**permalink**) 03-23-2007, 04:32 AM

my dream is too open up a big cat santuary/rescue ... i love them. and if i can't do that then i want to work at a zoo, or become an exotics vet.

sarecho7280 · #4 (**permalink**) 03-23-2007, 04:36 AM

i was hoping to have time to volunteer at a semi-local zoo when my wife finishes real estate school just to get experience with other animals, mainly larger cats, if possible. i'm comfortable with anything under 200 lbs (most cougars included) but a 400lb cat is something different entirely. large king cobras aren't even remotely as intimidating. they're just so big, something trivial could just set off their instinct and that's just unnerving. most couldn't handle and angry cougar at 150lbs.

they've just always been intriguing to me. ironically i can't stand house cats lol.

sarecho7280 · #5 (**permalink**) 03-23-2007, 04:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAG_Pythons

my dream is too open up a big cat santuary/rescue ... i love them. and if i can't do that then i want to work at a zoo, or become an exotics vet.

yeah, i can't afford to quit my job to work at a zoo now, but i'd like to volunteer one day if life permits. it would be one of the few jobs i'd enjoy doing.

Stargazer · #6 (**permalink**) 03-23-2007, 04:40 AM

I love big cats. I heard there is a very large wild cat sanctuary in Tampa, FL. Apparently, you can get in the cages with the cats--they are very tame. They used to have little cottages on site where you could pick the wild cat of your choice to sleep with you. They stopped doing it a few years ago (can't imagine why......).

MAG_Pythons · #7 (**permalink**) 03-23-2007, 04:42 AM

i know that i'm going to do somthing with exotics (including snakes) hopefully my dad'll go in on the project with me when he retires. idk i can always hope - if the exotic plan dosn't work i'd like to open a horse trainging/ breeding facility. I really love friesians so that would be the breed i would focus on and maybe i'd earn enough $ to do the exotics thing

sarecho7280 · #8 (**permalink**) 03-23-2007, 04:46 AM

that's the thing about big cats; the potential for disaster. i've kept venomous snakes for enough years to not really trust wild animals at all anymore, which is fine with me, but i dunno, there are just too many cases where a big cat has been spooked for no reason and caused serious damage. the sigfried and roy incident, a lot of private keepers have horror stories, and recently i saw on tv where a reporter was mauled by a leopard or jaguar that had been raised in captivity. i'll eventually risk life and limb and raise a lion some day, but now i'm just too smart to do it i guess lol.

i had a 178lb cougar that was as much cat as i could handle. never had an incident but she was just so strong and those playful swats with her paws were like getting hit by a baseball bat sometimes. i'm not into declawing them either even though that would save furniture.

MAG_Pythons · #9 (**permalink**) 03-23-2007, 04:50 AM

declawing a big cat? that would be horible!! i hate even declawing housecats.

honestally i think that no wild cat should be kept as a personal pet. i think educational perpouses are one thing but getting a big cat too be 'cool' is not really okay in my book. but then again i guess people would say the same thing about snakes.

i atleast think that they should have huge outdoor cages with a little house or somthing to go into during the cold months.

I have to say my fav big cats are Black Jaguars and snow leopards

Stargazer · #10 (**permalink**) 03-23-2007, 05:04 AM

I don't know how it is that this sanctuary in Florida allows people in the enclosures with the wild cats. I'm thinking they must be declawed and defanged (which is sad). Personally, I love the African servals. There is a new breed of domestic cat, the savannah, that is bred from a serval. It is quite amazing to look at. Looks like a cross between a serval and small cheetah, but is very tame and the size of a housecat.

sarecho7280 · #11 (**permalink**) 03-23-2007, 05:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stargazer

I don't know how it is that this sanctuary in Florida allows people in the enclosures with the wild cats. I'm thinking they must be declawed and defanged (which is sad). Personally, I love the African servals. There is a new breed of domestic cat, the savannah, that is bred from a serval. It is quite amazing to look at. Looks like a cross between a serval and small cheetah, but is very tame and the size of a housecat.

i had a serval a few years ago too. very unique cats. they're so elongated.

there is a clouded leopard at the miami zoo that i fell in love with too. just a beautiful animal but it seemed so distressed. it's always pacing around its cage frantically.

Stargazer · #12 (**permalink**) 03-23-2007, 05:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by megascops-osio

i had a serval a few years ago too. very unique cats. they're so elongated.
there is a clouded leopard at the miami zoo that i fell in love with too. just a beautiful animal but it seemed so distressed. it's always pacing around its cage frantically.

That's the reason I don't like to go to zoos. The big cats usually seem pretty bored or unhappy, and the enclosures are so small. You actually had a serval?

sarecho7280 · #13 (**permalink**) 03-23-2007, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stargazer

That's the reason I don't like to go to zoos. The big cats usually seem pretty bored or unhappy, and the enclosures are so small. You actually had a serval?

yeah, it's been a while and i think the price is about twice what it was then lol. i got my siberian lynx at about the same time and they were buds. ironically, i saw a show a few weeks back about a siberian lynx who was abandoned and the zoo raised her and one of her playmates was a serval lol.

my lynx plodded around more like a dog while the serval was very much cat like and jumpy/pouncy. she could spring straight up almost as if she was bounced up from underneath or something. but anyway, i miss them and i'm getting depressed thinking about the good old days lol.

soon, i will be set up to get a few more cats though. sadly, there are always a few who need a home after they get bigger than what is manageable for most.

Stargazer · #14 (**permalink**) 03-23-2007, 05:50 AM

Do you have a permit to have these cats? Also, have you seen pictures of the liger? (cross between the lion and tiger). They are huge.

sarecho7280 · #15 (**permalink**) 03-23-2007, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stargazer

Do you have a permit to have these cats? Also, have you seen pictures of the liger? (cross between the lion and tiger). They are huge.

no need for a permit where i live. they're lax on things like lions, tigers and bears but certain species of carp and raccoons ARE illegal lol

my home purchase will actually be in a county that has no more laws than the state because without my animals, i'd not have much to do when i got home but sleep and who'd like that?

and yeah, there is a pic of one liger that has to be 9' tall when standing up