Jaguar At Play
by Kathy White
Title
Jaguar At Play
Artist
Kathy White
Medium
Photograph - Photography--greeting Cards Or Notes Are Cheaper By The Dozen!
Description
"Jaguar At Play" was photographed by my husband, David, at the Lufkin, Texas Ellen Trout Zoo. We had so much fun with this Jaguar. He was so playful and this photo definitely shows that, as David caught him running from one side of his dwelling area to another. He was, actually, at this point, playing hide and seek with David. When David looked at him from the edge of a concrete wall, the jaguar caught David's eye and took off running to the far side of his home. David thought to himself, "Is he playing with me and wants me to come over there? Is he playing a game of hide and seek?" So he went to the other side and peeked around the corner at him. Immediately when the jaguar saw David peeking at him, he ran to the opposite side again. This hide and seek game went on for quite a while. He would wait to see David and then take off, fast as he could, to the other side. I snapped photos and laughed. It was amazing to be playing with what is so well known as a wild animal! We had neither one seen anything like it...and may never again.
The jaguar is a BIG cat, considered the third largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. Apart from a known and possibly breeding population in Arizona (southeast of Tucson), the cat has largely been extirpated, or locally extinct from the United States since the early 20th century. So, it is marvelous for us to even be around that beautiful cat.
My research show that the jaguar is largely a solitary, opportunistic, stalk-and-ambush predator at the top of the food chain. It has an exceptionally powerful bite, even compared to the other cats. It has been reported that "an individual jaguar can drag a 800 lb bull 25 feet in its jaws and pulverize the heaviest bones"
A short and stocky limb structure makes the jaguar adept at climbing, crawling and swimming. In this jaguar's home, the zoo has tall concrete steps leading up to a high ledge and also a small pond of water for him to get his exercise. And he definitely was....with David's help. He ran up the steps and pranced back and forth on the highest ledge.....then came charging back down the steps and jumped in the water. He swam around a little and watched us, and then started to play games with David again!
Finally, he stopped to rest, rolled around in the grass for a little while and posed a lot for pictures for me, it seemed. He would look directly at me, so calmly as if to say, "Since you guys played with me, now I will let you get some still shots of me!" We told the girls in the gift shop about our escapade with him and they were so surprised, saying they had never seen him do that with anyone before. He must have taken a liking to my "Dr Doolittle" husband.....ha! Maybe he just had a good repoire with the jaguar.
Uploaded
February 26th, 2013
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