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Year: 2007

Tiger at the San Francisco Zoo

Posted on December 26, 2007 in Disasters Zoos

At the San Francisco Zoo, it’s our mission to connect people with wildlife, inspire caring for nature and advance conservation action.

square437The [[San Francisco Zoo]] had been a sad place for a long time, in my opinion, the cages woefully out of date and the number of animals forever dwindling. Cold fogs blew in off the Pacific, right across the street, making it hardly the habitation for anything other than musk ox — which disappeared in favor of an out of place African veldt exhibit.

I’d often wondered about the pits that kept the lions and tigers and bears away from the general public. One by one they emptied and nothing was ever put back in them. Tatiana, the killer tiger, lived in a gray moated enclosure. You trusted that pit, assumed that it would keep its inmates inside, away from your succulent limbs. You also hoped that the zookeepers kept their charges fed. Some years ago, they used to feed them inside the lion house. It was a shocking show: lions and tigers roared at the top of their lungs while keepers tossed haunches of meat to them. The large room shook as the beasts waited their turn. I could never spend more than a minute or two in their carnivorous presences.

The Terrace Cafe, where they shot the beast down, is about a three to five minute walk from the moats. I can imagine the staff locking the doors, staring out the window as San Francisco police officers emptied their .40 pistols at the monster.

Last year, you may have heard, this same tiger mauled a keeper’s arm. Cal-OSHA cited the zoo for a faulty cage design, but nothing was said about the tiger or the dangerous disrespect she had shown. It surprises me that she had not been put down then. But we are speaking of a rare beast and I don’t doubt that the rarity of her kind in the wild influenced the decision to let her live.

Incidentally, I used to go to an endodontist who assisted in performing root canals on lions, tigers, leopards, and babboons at the zoo, a plaudit that he advertised via a photo album in his lobby. They used a regular 1/4″ drill bit and lots of anesthestic to keep the creatures comfortable and the dentists safe. I used to attest to his skill by pointing out that none of his patients had ever killed him.


I had an odd experience with a tiger once at the Los Angeles Zoo. My niece and I were hunting for the animal. We went up to a side window. The tiger came right up and uttered a deep throated “meow” or chuff. Who was he talking to, her or me?


Web Links:


I’m betting that these guys had been teasing her.

[tags]tiger, tigers, Tatiana the Tiger, zoo, San Francisco, San Francisco Zoo, Bay Area, San Francisco Bay Area, California, Northern California, disasters, zoos, Siberian tiger, conservation[/tags]

Insert A Trite Metaphor for a Corral #76

Posted on December 25, 2007 in Roundup

Criteria for Holiday Spirit (DSM, p. 555)

Posted on December 25, 2007 in Festivals Humor? Irony & Sarcasm

A. A distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood, lasting 12 days beginning on 25 December with a peak on 1 January.

B. During the period of mood disturbance, three (or more) of the following symptoms have persisted (four if the mood is only jolly) and have been present to a significant degree:

  • Visual hallucinations (e.g. “visions of sugarplums dancing”)
  • Auditory hallucinations (e.g. “reindeer paws”, “jingle bells”, “angels heard on high”, etc.) Should not be confused with department store music
  • Paranoia (e.g. “He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake”, etc.)
  • Pressure to keep talking while attending office Christmas parties
  • Pressure to keep eating while attending parties/banquets
  • Pressure to say “Merry Christmas” to everyone including Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and atheists.
  • Compulsive risk-tasking as in sleigh rides.
  • Compulsive television watching of family Christmas specials (Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) and bowl games
  • Dreaming of a White Christmas while resident in warm climates without any regard for real life tasks such as shoveling snow, breaking ice, thawing out frozen pets, etc.
  • Religiosity.
  • Unrestrained buying sprees

C. The symptoms do not meet criteria for Bipolar Mania or Schizophrenia.

D. The mood disturbance is sufficiently severe to cause marked lack of impairment in usual social activities or relationships with others. Work functionality may be disturbed by the wearing of absurd hats and red & green clothing.

E. The symptoms may be due to or accentuated by the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication, or other treatments).

If symptoms persist after 6 January, suspect Bipolar Disorder.

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Insert a Trite Metaphor for a Corral #75

Posted on December 24, 2007 in Roundup

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Masochat

Posted on December 23, 2007 in Cats Video

What else do these people use the paddles for?

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Insert A Trite Metaphor for a Corral #74

Posted on December 22, 2007 in Roundup

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Insert a Trite Metaphor About a Corral #73

Posted on December 21, 2007 in Roundup

Managed to lose most of my links in a computer crash. Sorry for the shortness of this feature today.

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Friday Xenartha Blogging – L’Attaque du Paresseux (Attack of the Sloth)

Posted on December 21, 2007 in Xenartha

No, I don’t speak French.

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Wise Divides, Foolish Unities

Posted on December 20, 2007 in Agnosticism Folly Watch Morals & Ethics Secularism

Atheists have a hard time fathoming Christian division. When it suits them, they ignore it to cast blame on every Christian for every dastardly deed done by the Fundamentalist Right.

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Insert a Trite Metaphor for a Corral #72

Posted on December 20, 2007 in Roundup

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Indecision Above

Posted on December 20, 2007 in Weather

square435The clouds showed a decided opinion about the dryness of the land for two days heretofore. Today they have become apathetic, holding their grayness over the land, dropping nothing. The temperature is as warm as a Maine summer which means I had to take out my woolen shirt to run errands in.

More rain would be welcome.

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Insert a Trite Metaphor for a Corral #71

Posted on December 19, 2007 in Roundup

square434Don’t think I’ve stopped thinking because of these. There are ideas going round and round through my mind, bouncing off the imagery of memory, and returning to the center. But I’m reading a lot to refill the well. Here’s the water:

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