There are many attractions in Palm
Desert but to us, the highlight is
The Living Desert - their zoo. Earlier
this year Vicky treated me to a personalized tour - you get your own guide for
the morning and she will take you wherever you want to go. So we now know where all of their cats are
located.
No tour today but we start with a "keeper talk" at
the cheetah enclosure. They feed the
cheetahs, literally throwing hamburger meat at them provided they follow
instructions. In this way the food
reinforces behaviors the staff can use to help the animals during medical exams
and other situations. The keeper near us
accidentally hits one of the cats in the eye with a piece of meat. This doesn't phase the cheetah at all!
This done, we take in their wildlife show - not many animals
on display but one of them is a serval, another of our favorite cats. He
comes really close to us. Servals are
known for their intelligence and this one clearly has good taste in people!
A highlight of our visit to the other cats is the bobcats. Part of their exhibit is a little cave with a
glass wall. If a cat is in the cave, you
can see it close up. Well, both bobcats
were in the cave and one of them was right against the glass so we had a great
view. Later the cat had moved away, but
the two of them were still in the cave, curled up together and washing one
another. Adorable!
A wonderful day with the cats and other animals at the
zoo. And two even more wonderful cats
waiting for us when we get home.
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