Many people look at some of the pictures that I've taken over the years and they think it's really cool to have such interactions with a big cat, and they sometimes don't stop to consider that having and interacting with a big cat isn't the same as the interactions with a domestic animal. In other words, they might take for granted that a relationship with a big cat, while it seems simple and casual enough, is the result of a lot of hard work and many, many hours of interaction, and in truth, a lot of dings and scrapes, scratches and bloodshed. If I had a dime for every time a cat had drawn blood on me, completely accidentilly, I'd be a rich man today!

In my tours with the public, and my interactions with people when telling them about these wonderful creatures, I always try to stress that these kinda of animals are not pets. They're not beasts that are ideally suited to household living or being indoors. I don't recommend it at all. Of course, people that know me well, and know about Shasta always have to jibe me: "But YOU had a cougar in your house!" Yeah. That's true. Shasta was a housecat. Even today, when people say the word "housecat" I always have to clarify that they mean the small, mini-kitties of the domestic variety. Truth be known, I loved every moment with Shasta in my house, but if you've read any of my journals ("Oh the Moments We Treasure" ) then you know it wasn't all fun and games. There were moments of total insanity, and knowing what I know today, things are different. I love Drifter and Macumba dearly as well, just like Shasta-of-old, but I'm happy to leave them in their cages. When I visit, I go into their homes (when they welcome me). It works for all of us today. So, let me get to my point.

I do indeed enjoy my hands-on time with the animals, and as some of the pix in my gallery display quite nicely, I have what I'd consider a great relationship with my cats. I love them, and I think they know that, so it's a two-way street, which I think is also apparent in the images. But these kinds of interactions with big cats are dangerous. Sure, it doesn't look that way. Most of these pictures, like this one, or the one of me hugging Macumba, make it look like nothing could be more common in all the universe. But in truth, it's not. It's dangerous. When you work with animals like this, you simply accept that there's a certain margin of risk. I accept the level of danger present. It's like skydiving; jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft has risks. Working with wild animals has risks too. That's really my point here. I've worked with these animals since they were kittens. I've been working and studying about big cats for 25-years, so I've got a bit of experience under my belt. Does that make me immune to the danger-factor? Not at all. The probability of disaster never changes; it's always there. All the many years of working with this kind of animal has simply taught me what "warning signs" to look for. Usually, I can see the little tell-tale signs of impending doom and I can usually circumvent things enough to stave off disaster. Someone that's new to the whole wild animal experience might not be so lucky, which is why I always tell people the realities: wild animals, no matter how "cute" they might appear to be, are still wild animals, and so will always be true to their nature. Cats are ambush predators. Whether or not you're their buddy, there's just no way around instincts. Instincts are hard-wired. They will always take priority over ALL other factors, including love and friendship. Now, having said all that, onwards and forwards!

Feline Trivia For-The-Day:
Strength - Exactly how strong is Drifter? While the exact, horsepower figure is hard to assess, on average, the typical cougar is about 4-5 times the strength of a human. How do I know that? Lots of study, and experience. One time, Drifter was about 2-y-o, and I was doing repairs on his cage. I was inside his cage with him. He didn't give a darn about the cage repairs, he just wanted me to pay attention to him. So finally, I did. We had a little, impromptu wrestle-match, and he was getting quite a bit more rough with me than he ever had before (all those hormones kicking in as he was getting older). We ended up into the double entry, and I was starting to get a bit nervous as to how to keep him from really getting spun up. So, I ended up up, literally laying on him, and mushing him down to the ground with my entire body-weight. I always know if Drifter's having fun, as he'll purr pretty much non-stop. In this case, once I had him semi-restrained, there was just a little bit of a stutter in his purring. He didn't like being restrained; no wild animal does. So, we just remained there, frozen for a long moment, and then, his purring stuttered again, and he stood up. Ayup. I mean that literally. Even with my 200-lbs (90kg) versus his hundred (45kg), smacking him flat onto the ground, he just flexed a tiny little bit, and lifted us both up, with me still firmly on his back, as if I didn't weigh a thing. He didn't strain, grunt or anything. To say I was impressed is putting it mildly. So, Drifter, and any other big cat, is many, many times stronger that us weak, pathetic humans. For a leopard like Macumba, it's closer to 6-8 time our strength. For a tiger, such as Genesis, or a lion like Mufasa, it's about twenty. For a tiger the size of Java, probably twenty-five. What does all the mean in more basic terms? If they hug you, even with them being your friend, with even a portion of their strength, they can literally break you in half, and not even strain in doing it.

Okay, so that's the big cat danger lesson for the day. Let me get on to babbling about the picture.

This is one of my long-ago pix of Drifter. He's about eleven months old in this pic; he's barely more than a kitten. This is a fun pix, as it not only displays my buddy-buddy relationship that I've had with him for a long time now, but it's also one of those Priceless Moments pictures that even looking at it myself, sends my spirits soaring. It's all the Priceless Moments that you have in life that not only make you feel truly alive, but make you feel so completely and profoundly content. It is a joy beyond description.

In this picture, people have asked me so many times: "Is it dead?" Nope. Drifter's quite alive and well. He's always trusted me, so he never minded being draped across my shoulders with his entire underside exposed to me. You'll notice that I've got a good grip on his rear paw. Remember, there four daggers in that paw. He he were to feel insecure in his perch, all those cleats are gonna come out and find purchase somewhere, such as imbedding themselves into my chest, for example, so it's in my best interests to keep that paw in my grasp, and by so doing, keep him happily stable in his perch. You can also see my other hand and arm, supporting his shoulder. Why's he leaning down like that? You can't see it here, but he's literally chewing the sleeve off my t-shirt. Drifter, for whatever reason, always had a thing for my t-shirts. They'd start out normal, but after a few visits, the left side would be sleeveless. Then, he'd shift to the right side. Then, it'd be clearly time for a new t-shirt. If you look closely at the shirt, you can see there's a lot of little holes in it. Think claws! Really sharp claws!

I should also point out how long Drifters tail is. It's literally about 33-inches (84cm), so you can see it here, going from his hinnie, and vanishing behind the denbox. It's tip is not far from my knee. This pic is also kinda good at illustrating the general size of his paw versus my hand. If you compare the two, especially considering that his right paw is touching the box on his tip-toes, you can see that his paw is bigger than my hand.

So, that's Drifter and me. Don't try this at home folks. It's just not a prudent - or very smart - thing to be doing with a cougar. Why am I? Because I'm a moron, and it's fun! In truth, I don't do things like that anymore with Drifter. It's just not a wise thing to do with an adult cat. It's one thing to have a cougar kitten standing on your head; it's quite another to have an adult cat doing the same. Nonetheless, I wanted to share another Priceless Moment picture with you.

People often ask: "Do you love your cats?" As a picture is worth a thousand words, I offer this one in answer to that question. Do I love Drifter? Yeah. How much? Enough to be on cloud nine while he's chewing my sleeve off. :)

This picture was taken somewhere around Oct-Nov 99. It was taken with an old Kodak, consumer-grade digital camera (aka junk). I can't rattle of the specs, as this camera didn't record any of that info.

Disclaimer: I hate to have to put this on here, but the pic is copyright me. Please do not distribute, copy, alter, etc, without my permission. Having said all that, feel free to download and use it for your own inspiration.