I held and pet a freaking Mountain Lion!!! (with pics)

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1970dartcustom

1970dartcustom

of the Moore clan
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Broken Arrow, OK
I went to an animal preserve in Arkansas while on vacation this weekend. They had a huge drive thru area with tons of deer, long horns, camels, zebras, buffalo, and tons more... It was sweet. There was thick woods with wild boars and red deer bucks running around, open prairie with African savanna animals in herds like wildebeests and antelopes with curly horns, and wetland areas with hippos and alligators n such.

In the walk thru area there was one spot where a 6 month old mountain lion was there. The lady said that in a couple weeks he'd be moved into the safety cages because after 6 months they start to get pretty wild. So, it was a pretty rare event for anyone really. I sat with him for like 15 minutes :)

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THAT is awesome! Very very.cool
He will remember that forever. Remember to give him a big hug at his 1st birthday party.
 
1970dartcustom said:
I went to an animal preserve in Arkansas while on vacation this weekend. They had a huge drive thru area with tons of deer, long horns, camels, zebras, buffalo, and tons more... It was sweet. There was thick woods with wild boars and red deer bucks running around, open prairie with African savanna animals in herds like wildebeests and antelopes with curly horns, and wetland areas with hippos and alligators n such.

In the walk thru area there was one spot where a 6 month old mountain lion was there. The lady said that in a couple weeks he'd be moved into the safety cages because after 6 months they start to get pretty wild. So, it was a pretty rare event for anyone really. I sat with him for like 15 minutes :)

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A few other pics from the preserve...

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Fantastic pics!!! Thanks for sharing.

I was stationed in Arkansas while in the Air Force and my wife was born and raised there. Where is the nature preserve? We get back every so often and we'll have to put it on our list!!
 
66fyssh said:
Fantastic pics!!! Thanks for sharing.

I was stationed in Arkansas while in the Air Force and my wife was born and raised there. Where is the nature preserve? We get back every so often and we'll have to put it on our list!!
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You should go!
The drive through part was way better in the morning when we drove through the first time, the afternoon we saw much less game and there was more people there...
Wild Wilderness Drive Through Safari
20923 Safari rd. Gentry, AR 72734
 
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Awesome experience!! And nice pics! Those cows with the massive horns are Watusi's I know a guy who has some.
 
Very cool and some nice pics! I like these kinds of threads, thanks for sharing!
 
mopardude62 said:
Very cool and some nice pics! I like these kinds of threads, thanks for sharing!
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neat ! that kitty will not be so cuddly, more than likely in a few yrs. WATUSI ? I remember the girls doing the watusi back in the day. "a dance, for u dirty minded" . LOL
 
I used to help out as a big cat handler, lions, tigers, puma, leopard, and cougars, for a wildlife rescue ranch. Lots of fun, but,...you have to really be able to read small signs of predators ! I grew up handling wild animals, and wild pets. When I was young, back in the 60's, in idaho, up in the mountains, my dad was a professional bear, and cougar hunter. His hunting buddy was an Indian who also owned a trading post. He had a cougar that he raised from a cub. When I was introduced to him, he was mostly toothless, and so big, that when he laid in the back of a truck, his front paws, and head hung off the tailgate, and his tail thumped the windshield, and roof of the truck. When he purred, the whole truck rattled, but he was so docile, that they trusted him to sleep with his head in my lap. I've never seen a mountain lion that big again ! Now here's something some of you might not believe, but I did see a black panther, 10-15 miles outside of Jefferson City Missouri. It was only about 40 feet away, calmly strolling by the entrance of a cave, down a path, along a bluff, near the Missouri river. No, I've never seen Bigfoot, but I never walked through the woods with the same feeling of superiority again !!! My friend who was with me, and I tried to follow it up the ravines trail, but it just disappeared ! It didn't even acknowledge our presence. Total true story, and no, it was pure black, blocky headed, long tail, and no lightness to it's coat at all ! I thought it was a myth, but my friend said he had seen them before, by the current river, lower Missouri. Say what you want, I know big cats, that was a big cat, that I had never seen before, and it wasn't a jaguar, or leopard, or even a cougar, but a species of it's own !
 
Good for you!
I would love to go there some day, thanks for sharing the pics and the story!
 
Thanks! I'll put it on our list for sure!! My wife remembers the name but didn't know where it was.

Life is about making memories and you have some great ones right there!!

1970dartcustom said:
You should go!
The drive through part was way better in the morning when we drove through the first time, the afternoon we saw much less game and there was more people there...
Wild Wilderness Drive Through Safari
20923 Safari rd. Gentry, AR 72734
Click to expand...
 
We have a drive thru safari zoo like that in Virginia. It is one of the coolest things we ever did with my kids. But there were no mountain lions to pet. That is pretty freaking cool.
 
1970dartcustom said:
I went to an animal preserve in Arkansas while on vacation this weekend. They had a huge drive thru area with tons of deer, long horns, camels, zebras, buffalo, and tons more... It was sweet. There was thick woods with wild boars and red deer bucks running around, open prairie with African savanna animals in herds like wildebeests and antelopes with curly horns, and wetland areas with hippos and alligators n such.

In the walk thru area there was one spot where a 6 month old mountain lion was there. The lady said that in a couple weeks he'd be moved into the safety cages because after 6 months they start to get pretty wild. So, it was a pretty rare event for anyone really. I sat with him for like 15 minutes :)

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That Kitty has some humongous paws!!!! You probably won't get the chance to hold another cat like that the rest of your life!!

Treblig
 
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Seriously cool. I think his name should be Bigfoot ! The size of those paws, omg.

Kids, don't try this in the wild !
 
That's cool stuff. When Jake was in 1st grade, my buddy took us on a black bear tracking tag. University of VA and Virginia wild life dept had a study going and we got to go. The mother already had a gps tag, so they knew what tree she was using as her den. They darted the mother without waking her and then tagged the cubs. Momma bear never knew we were there. The cubs were just old enough to walk. We got to hold and pet them. They would cling and cuddle to us like they we our own. They tagged their ears and tattooed their upper inner lip. Jake is now 20 next month and still talks about once in a while.
 
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