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| Carol |
| Crutches |
| 2003.09.17 05:59:00 | |
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We have a friend who was out over the weekend on crutches and we watched in horror and amazement as Jamu, one of our youngest tigers, freaked out at the sight of the crutches. He went wildly running around the pen, until we removed the crutches from his sight. It was very alarming to us so, today we conducted an experiment, I borrowed crutches from my boss and brought them home for Gary to use to see if they were in fact the source of the stress. I sat with Jamu and Kashmir and waited for Gary to appear. I knew exactly when Gary entered the compound as Jamu's ears went flat and he darted into his house. He crept out close to the ground as Gary got closer and started hissing. Gary slowly came up and after lots of chuffing and hissing simultaneously, he saw that the crutches weren't going to hurt him. Gary made his way around to the other side of his pen and Jamu slowly followed him keeping his guard up. He got a little more accustomed to them the longer he could keep an eye on them. We left them leaning up against a tree by their pen and hopefully he will develop a "bond" with them. We would like for our friend to feel he can come back and use his crutches since he will be on them for three months, so hopefully this experiment will make the transition easier on him. I can't imagine why they scare him so. He must have had a bad dream where something that resembled them were chasing him. He is also the one that has to keep an eye out for Jake, my lion that he saw for the first time a few months ago. They have been in pens in close proximity for at least two years now and Jakes is just now making an impression on him with his size and beautiful full mane. Jake has no idea what all the fuss is about. We are all enjoying this beautiful Fall weather and all the appetites are getting much better now that the Summer is over. Tags: tiger | Jamu | Kashmir | chuffing
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