A Vist to the Jungle

I had the great pleasure to make a quick 3 day trip to Sarasota, Florida. The purpose was to see Ben (my son) and get him settled. The real highlight of the trip was when he and I went to the Big Cat Rescue on Saturday. What a wonerful place. It is not a zoo, but a wild cat refruge. They have wild cats rescued from the entertainment industry, private persons, and surplus zoo animals.The admission was very reasonable, so I was delighted to be able to make a gift, too. This is good work they do. Different from a zoo, where you are free to walk around on your own and look at the exhibits, here we were members of a small group taken on an escorted and narrated tour. Great, factual information was provided on each individual cat, as well as the species.We saw lions, tigers, and bears - - no not bears - that was in The Wizard of Oz . We did see lions, tigers, cheetahs, leopards, pumas, (black panthers), Jaguars, Sand Cats, Caracals, a Snow Leopard, a Clouded Leopard, Lynxes, Bobcats, and Ocelots.The great thing about seeing all these cats was that we were "up close and personal" with them and they were all very active. Nothing like in a zoo. If you can take this tour and not be awed by the splendor of these wonderful creatures then I would have to question your humanity.When we left the Big Cat Rescue we went to the Tampa Zoo. We really should have done it the other way around and gone tothe zoo first. After the rescue tour, the zoo was a disappointment. Not that it is not a wonderful zoo, for it is! But it was just not anything near the experience we had at the rescue.If you are ever in the Tampa area I urge you to experience the Big Cat Rescue.