Caging an animal

Would you want a tiger for a pet? If the answer is "yes", then perhaps you should spend some time around a fully grown one. You might learn just how much they eat, how much of a mess they make, and how incredibly dangerous they can be. Sadly, many people adopt big cats, and other exotic animals, without fully understanding the requirements of taking care of these wild animals. In the end, both human and animal suffer, and often the animal is abandoned, or worse, put down after lashing out at its owner. During the November 15th show (click here for podcast), we heard a piece from Nature Stories called "Ferocity You Can Touch", which tells the tale of the Tiger Temple in Thailand where tourists pay to pet tigers. These tigers are said to have a Buddhist-like zen about them, but as the story reveals, they are "trained" in the same way as many other captive tigers throughout the world - with fear and punishment. You might be able to take the animal out of the wild, but never the wild out of the animal.

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Cessna, a lion at Turpentine Creek

We also talked about a nearby rescue operation for abandoned tigers, and other large mammals, called Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. I volunteered there when I was in college. For the sound quiz, I played a few of the vocalizations that were most common on the property. It was quite impressive when all the big cats, such as lions, tigers, and cougars, would begin calling in chorus.

We also heard tracks from Neko Case, Wire, The Swirlies, Le Tigre, Wildwood, and more!