Swimmin' Tigers and Swimmin' minds

These incredible photos are of a White Bengal Tiger named Odin. Odin is six years old and 10 feet long from tail to nose. He lives at a Zoo in Vallejo, California, near San Francisco.

Odin was hand-raised at the zoo British trainer Lee Munro. And after he was weaned, his trainer discovered his remarkable skill. When a lump of meat was thrown into a pool of water, Odin would happily dive in after it."He makes a funny face - and it's actually to close his nostrils to stop the water from going into his nose."

Not all big cats enjoy the water but for Tigers from the hot climate of South-East Asia it's one way to cool down. "Plus they hunt in and around water. They're an ambush predator so they wait for prey to come down to the water." "When you actually see him dive underwater he looks so graceful," "Odin loves the water and he loves food," he said.

"Not all big cats will dive and swim underwater even for meat treats." Munro said tigers were the most powerful swimmers out of all land-dwelling animals.

Tragically, within our lifetimes, zoos might be the only places left to see these magnificent animals. (Did I not tell you there was always this part? Always gotta mention that good old MAN continues to fuck things up for the beautiful animals of the world!) A century ago there were about 100,000 tigers in the wild. Now there are just 2,500 adults, with the Bengal variety almost extinct. None has been seen in the wild since the last white tiger was shot and killed in 1958. White tigers are the most rare. They get their white color from an unusual and extremely rare genetic combination. I hope you enjoyed these photos as much as I did.


*sigh*


I wanna go visit and swim with Odin. The big, fluffy kha-hitty kha-HAT-t-t-t... Hehehehe!

It's so sad that man always has to dominate. Hoping there aren't any tragic "accidents" with Odin and his beloved trainer. Look at that magnificent animal. So much beauty and grace. Perfection, compared to the ratty and disgusting human being. We have proven that intelligence only goes so far. Intelligence without boundaries is a very dangerous thing.

Another dangerous thing has been going on lately... I've been thinkin' again. UHG-OOH. I'm getting a very strong urge to scrape a resume together and try to find myself a better gig. What can it hurt to go out and try? There are a couple of places I have in mind, why not give it a shot? I'll get over my fear, pull out the laptop and write up a lovely, updated version of my glorious, marketable skills. I am seriously bored with this job. I know part of it is because it's summertime and things are generally slow. The fucked up economy isn't helping. Now, I'm kind of a lazy person at times but this is rediculous. It's time to start thinking about my future. I've always known I can't stay here forever. This place is becoming a crutch. I know I can do better.

For now, however, I have a job to do. There are things to do, but I put them off. I need some stimulation, man. Someone give me a figurative fire up the anus. EWww... Now think about firey anuses whilst I get my working groove on.
Late.