Zhadi's Den

Random essays on wine, writing, moving to San Francisco, surfing, cats (exotic and otherwise) and zombies...depending on my mood.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Goodbye to Jasmine





It breaks my heart to say that Jasmine, beautiful Bengal tiger at EFBC-FCC, is no longer with us. She died from a tumor two days ago at the age of 13 (or thereabouts) and will be sorely missed by staff, volunteers and visitors alike.

Jasmine was the first tiger I ever pet, the first to give me a slobbery tiger kiss, the first I ever heard give that mournful wookie moan when she wanted attention. I went in Jasmine's enclosure a couple of times to clean while she was out and about; to be that close to such a magnificent animal was both frightening and amazing.

Jasmine had a war going with the log in her enclosure. She'd be happily playing with her ball and would suddenly charge the log with a threatening snarl (almost a bark, really), attacking it with claws and teeth. Then she'd run away, circle the log and attack it again. I'm not sure what that log was saying to her, but it had to be pretty inflammatory...

Jas lover her pool in hot weather. She'd immerse herself in it so that all that was left above water leve were her ears, eyes and nose, like a great furry crocodile. She loved to explode out of the water and splatter anyone who came close enough to the chainlink fence.

When Caesar (my son) was moved in next to her, Jasmine was not pleased and was very vocal about her displeasure. She and Caesar each had a smaller enclosure that opened onto the same large 'field' area. When Caesar was in the field, Jas was locked into her private quarters and vice versa. When Jas was locked in, she'd pitch a fit whenever Caesar came near her neck of the woods. We used to accuse Caesar of deliberately teasing poor Jasmine. He was very much like a little boy with a crush and no way to express it except to torment her. The tiger equivalent of pulling her pig tails. I felt sorry for Jas until I saw her happily taunting Caesar in his enclosure when she had the run of the field.

They were never let into the field at the same time, but relations improved to the point where I wonder how Caesar is gonna be now that the object of his pig-tail pulling affections is gone.

Bye, Jazzy...you were a very special girl and enriched my life more than I can say.

(These pictures were all taken by Nancy Vandermey. I have some personal ones that I'll be posting later; I have to scan them first. )

18 Comments:

  • At 9:10 PM, Blogger Other Lisa said…

    I am so sorry to hear this! I remember all your Jasmine stories over the years. What a wonderful, and as you said, magnificent being.

     
  • At 8:11 AM, Blogger David Fitzgerald said…

    Jasmine was my favorite at the EFBC facility. It never ceased to amaze me how much she loved you; giving you tiger kisses, making her chuffing noise ("V-v-v-v!") and rubbing up against you whenever you were there. Such a massive sweet thing. I'm going to miss her terribly.
    xo
    -D

     
  • At 6:27 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I'm so sorry. She was beautiful.

     
  • At 5:24 PM, Blogger Dana Fredsti said…

    She was a sweetie pie...

     
  • At 9:49 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Sorry for your loss.

    On another note, that third picture of the tiger (the one with her tongue in her nose) reminds me of a kid I knew when I was in 7th grade who was always chasing his boogers that way too. Of course he had to let them get a little ways out of his nose before he could catch them.

    It was quite a spectacle. And of course he wasn't too popular when lunchtime rolled around.

     
  • At 10:36 AM, Blogger Dana Fredsti said…

    kempis...ugh!!!!! UGH!!!!!! Jasmine had WAY too much class to chase her boogers with her tongue...

     
  • At 4:07 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Zhadi wrote: Jasmine had WAY too much class to chase her boogers with her tongue...

    I'm sure she did. However picture number 3 (the one with the tip of her tongue in her nostril) reminded me of that kid all those years ago, and I just felt compelled to share.

    :)

     
  • At 8:45 AM, Blogger Kayla said…

    oh, that's sad.
    Goodbye Jasmine

    BTW, a lady never picks her boogers!

     
  • At 9:05 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    BTW, a lady never picks her boogers!

    No, and they don't fart either.

     
  • At 10:26 AM, Blogger Dana Fredsti said…

    Farting is something that you can't always help, Kemp. Picking boogers is a choice one makes - do we use a kleenex and blow our nose in the privacy of a bathroom? Or do we pick our nose? A lady (or anyone with class) chooses the kleenex. Unless they're stranded somewhere with no tissue. And even then, using one's tongue? Ugyh!!!! I stand by Kayla's words!

     
  • At 2:44 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Hey, I thought "the booger gobbler" was a funny story (as in funny-eewww). And yes, I get the difference between a fart and digging for green. But sometimes it's fun to poke at "social stereotypes."

    Sometimes humor works, sometimes it doesn't.

    Anyway, sorry the the big cat has passed, there aren't enough of them in the world.

     
  • At 3:44 PM, Blogger Dana Fredsti said…

    Oh, it was a funny story, but it's also a 'funny eeewww' story! 'digging for green?' EEEEUUUWWWW!!!!! That's a hideously great expression...

    Thanks for everyone's kind words re: Jasmine, btw. I really appreciate it.

     
  • At 6:20 AM, Blogger Redzilla said…

    So sorry I read the other comments. Bleck. Beautiful kitty, though. I love the pic with the pumpkin, especially, because it illustrates how big and powerful tigers are. It's the big cat equivalent of my cats stealing plums out of the fruit bowl to play with.

     
  • At 10:59 AM, Blogger Lynda said…

    What a beautiful kitty. I love tigers. I would be kind of scared to though.

    I also came by to wish you luck with Shmoo. I hope your kitty feels better soon. (Came via Mr. Fab's blog.)

     
  • At 6:05 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Mr Fab sent me this way, I'm sorry about the big kitty, and I hope Shmoo gets better soon! ♥

     
  • At 12:07 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    What's happened to Shmoo?

     
  • At 2:36 PM, Blogger Malnurtured Snay said…

    You still alive?

     
  • At 11:25 AM, Blogger Dana Fredsti said…

    Lynda and Katie, thank you so much for your good wishes and for stopping by! I'll repay the visits to your blogs!

    MS, I am still alive...just been traveling back and forth between here, L.A., and San Diego and overwhelmed with everything. I'll be back!

    Kempis, Shmoo is really sick. I'll explain more later...

     

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