A panther slept in my lap!

It was a rather cold day at Sawgrass Recreational Park today, and due to this, not as busy as I expected. A couple of tour groups did come in, but not the massive after-xmas influx.

Junior was there, and was being rather frisky at first. A bit later when he calmed down, though, I sat down on the ground next to his "box", and he came over to me and climbed into my lap! He curled a bit sideways (he doesn't really fit in my lap, being over 90lbs already) and fell asleep.

He slept for 20 minutes in my lap, and kept me warm, too. He was purring on and off and he ocassionally turned around a bit and shifted positions. Unfortunately, my right foot started to fall asleep and hurt, so I had to get up. Awww...

Later on I visited the property and did the usual chopping-up-chicken and feeding the kitties. After that work was done, I sat right in front of the fence to Darlene's enclosure (a full grown tiger), and she came up to me and started chuffing and rubbing into the fence. At one point, my face was so close to hers, I could feel her breath on my face when she chuffed. It was definitely a "one with nature" moment. I stayed there for a few minutes, scritching Darlene and Tiffany through the fence. I sometimes wish I could get an invulnerability powerup in real life, so I could go in there and tussle with the tigers without risk of getting hurt. }:)

No photos at the property, but I took some at Sawgrass.

Link: A few photos at Sawgrass