Photography Adventure: Big Cats

A few weeks ago I visited a large cat rescue center near Terre Haute Indiana http://www.exoticfelinerescuecenter.org/home.html. I never saw so many lions, tigers, leopards, cougars, and a variety of other cats, in one place. It was a great experience. The other thing that made it exciting was the fact that the cats were so close. Instead of the cats being separated from visitors by giant motes like my zoo has, they were in yards with chain link fences, so close you could look deep into their eyes just inches from them in some cases.

The cats in the rescue center were there for a variety of reasons. Some were rescued from owners that didn't care for them properly. Some didn't care for their owners properly, that is, they killed their trainers. In some cases when you were looking into the eyes of a man-eater you knew it. And they let you know it also. I like to get pictures of animals at their eye level. That always makes a more imposing, and respectful shot than one where you are looking down at the animal. In order to do this, I frequently squat down and poke my small lens through the fence. More than one cat decided that I looked like easy prey. One tiger was taking a bath and he sprung up out of the water, Shot up over my head and gave me a huge shower as he hit the fence. I got a blurry shot of his chest. Another tiger was pacing and each time he emerged from the woods, about 25 feet away from me, his eyes locked on me and within seconds his massive body hit the fence with so much force it bowed outward several inches. I was always able to get away from the fence in time to avoid the impact, but just barely. His persistence and power were amazing. I'm posting his picture coming out of the woods just as his gaze locks on to me. Each time that was my signal to flee because it only took him a few seconds to cover the distance once that occurred. I'm sure a human would have no chance of escaping a charging cat if there were no fence to stop the advance.

The other pic I'm posting is a beautiful lion. He was resting against the fence and obliged the lens with intent curiosity.

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