Plus Sized Kitty Cats

In the mid 90's when most preteen girls had rooms plastered in posters of hunky stars of the day like Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Luke Perry, and Leonardo DiCaprio, and bands like 'N Sync and Backstreet Boys, I was busy wallpapering my room with pictures of tigers. Yes, I am referring to the likes of Siberians and Bengals, and no I will not use this as an opportunity to make a Tiger Woods wise crack. I simply was deeply in love with tigers and I was committed to do anything to prevent them from becoming extinct. I had grand plans of studying Zoology and working to preserve what little natural tiger habitat is left. But, as with all my peers, my natural teenage instincts to obsess over celebrity hot throbs would prevail. Eventually the tiger pictures came down off the walls and were carefully placed into scrapbooks and boxes, but the passion for these majestic creatures never died.

This past weekend I visited the Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah, Washington for their annual Reindeer Festival. Although as their name would suggest, we did not see many cougars, but I was more than thrilled to discover they had a beautifully designed tiger habitat.

They also had an odd assortment of other animals. Like this toothsome fellow:

Being a Reindeer Festival, we of course made a quick visit to see Dancer

These cranes were absolutely stunning

Always a good reminder...

As I was leaving I noticed that the zoo offers a behind the scenes Tiger Experience. For $250 one can get up close and personal with these striped felines. Although it sounds appealing, I can't help but recall the time I asked a zoo keeper in Alberta, Canada if I could go in the tiger enclosure and she graciously opened the gate...

And then they led me to the lion's den...

Even though they ripped my clothes to shreds, I still thought of them as plus sized kitty cats.

On a side note, I think the Alberta based zoo was closed down shortly after my visit. Apparently letting your guests enter the animal cages is not exactly the safest way to run a business.