Some years ago Vicky took me to the Exotic
Feline Breeding Center
in Rosamond, CA
(also known as "The Cat House") for my birthday. We both loved it, and since it's only about
40 miles from here we spend today on a repeat visit.
It's a small, privately run institution which, as the name
suggests, takes care of, and breeds a variety of unusual wild cats. You can get (safely) up close with the cats
(if they choose to let you). We spend
three happy hours here. I won't give you
the whole list of their animals, just our own highlights. An Amur Leopard holds a conversation with
Vicky. Tigers make a
"chuffing" sound to bond with each other, and this leopard makes one
for us. Vicky is able to keep this going
with one leopard for quite a while, much to the disgust of her neighbor, who
snarls at us and her.
However, it's Pandora, a beautiful male Jungle Cat, sleek,
with a golden coat, who holds the conversation record. We remember him from our previous visit. He constantly "talks" sounding like
a Siamese cat, as though he's complaining about something. If you reply to him it encourages him, and of
course we do just that, enjoying the interaction with this rare and elegant
feline.
Geoffrey's Cat is about the size of a house cat and looks
like a very cute tabby. Again, they are
rare, and we're able to spend time with one.
He even speaks to Vicky at one point - a quiet meow. But the keeper tells us he's highly
territorial when she goes to feed him or clean his enclosure.
A highlight of our previous visit was being taken behind the
scenes to see Sand Cats, which were kept off exhibit due to being extremely
shy. This was a special treat for my
birthday and I don't expect it to be repeated, so we're delighted to find that now
Sand Cats, Dune and Shrek, are now on exhibit.
Delighted, that is, until we find that Shrek, who we're told will be in
the branches of a tree, is in fact nowhere to be seen, while Dune is hiding in
his box, so we can only see one ear. He
does come out at one point but as soon as he sees we're there he's back into
the box. Oh, well, they're known to be
shy.
We notice another Sand Cat curled up in a hammock in his
enclosure, which is just off the public area.
We can just see his back. We do
stick around for a while and eventually he starts to wash himself so we see
other parts besides his back. Finally,
satisfied that he's clean, Solo (as we find out he's called) looks straight at
us and I'm able to get a photo. This
incident really makes our day. If you
find yourself in the Los Angeles Area, this place is really worth a visit. They deserve support for the work they're
doing, and if you like cats, you'll love it.
Check out www.wildcatzoo.org
Dinner at a Brazilian Churrascaria in Lancaster - lots of
good meat - and back to the cats and the puzzle. We do finish it, minus the few pieces that
are missing, and then spend a half hour trying to find the black cat that must
be somewhere in the puzzle, with no success.
I check the internet and it seems other people haven't been able to find
him. Well, we did see lots of cats today
and we still have our own loving family members!
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