Jan 26 2009
That’s not a cat, this is a cat.
What is it about Australians? Wouldn’t a smaller cat be a little easier to house train?
Yes the title is meant to be a take off on the line from the hit movie Crocodile Dundee that Mick says about his large knife.(The scene is described in the Wiki link, in case you forgot it—see Plot, 4th paragraph).
But as I found out from TK, this picture wasn’t taken in a zoo in Australia. It was taken at a rather interesting place in Thailand called TIGER Temple Thailand. Certainly the images don’t depict a traditional zoo.
You get to mingle very closely with this majestic animal and many others. Since I haven’t had the pleasure of being there, I can’t comment on how the big cats are kept so calm.TK’s comment said the following “was a fantastic experience.” It is always important to respect wild animals because they are still wild and can be unpredictable.
When I first saw the picture of TK and that big old cat and saw she was from Australia I couldn’t help but think of the famous Australian wildlife expert, Steve Irwin aka “The Crocodile Hunter”. I was completely taken aback by something very unsettling to me when I went searching for the Wiki link for Steve Irwin because I know he came to a tragic end doing what he loved. He was filming underwater around the Great Barrier Reef swimming with stingrays and unfortunately took a fatal blow to his chest.
What I was shocked at, was the fact that the video was available for anyone to watch of the actual attack. I can’t tell you anything more about the video because I just think that to view it is just very disrespectful. I would prefer to remember the Steve Irwin that I got to see on television here playing with crocodiles and snakes like a child plays with the pet dog. There wasn’t much doubt that he just loved what he did so much. His memory still lives on in many of the worthwhile projects that he and his wife undertook in the name of animal conservation.
It happens to also be Australia Day (when this was written) and it just seems very inappropriate to me to remember an Aussie that caring in such a manner. I bet some big old crocodile is laying his head in Steve’s lap right now in “Croc Heaven”. Let’s remember him for what he was—a very good man that sadly had an unfortunate accident.
