So today was a long long shoot but it was soo soooooo worth it. The day started at 5 am, which to me will always be an ungodly hour. I don’t understand it, I woke up at 2:30 am and was actually ok, but waking up at 5 just feels like your robbed of all things good and innocent. But anyways got up at five so we could roll out by six. We were packed up and by seven we were at our destination a wildlife sanctuary.
We met with this owner that has been for a number of years helping rescue all kinds of animals, from domestic dogs, to blind horses, to even wolves. However they are most famously known for rescuing over hundreds of domestic cats and wild cats. We were there too meet with them to continue our segment on the differences and most importantly the similarities between the two cats.
Our day started off so early because we had to feed the big and small cats. Being here in Mississippi we realized that because of heat and humidity that no cats would be hanging out past eleven and would hide to avoid the heat. So we started off getting footage of feeding Lions. You forget so easily just how powerful and intimidating lions can be. I was in a safe feeding area but still hearing those big cats growl and roar if we got too close to them while they ate there whole chickens is a great reminder. We got some good footage of that and then well we moved on to this!!!
Now for anyone who knows me, I love tigers. They are my number one favorite animal in this world. And if the whole Calvin & Hobbes theme here isn’t a clue too. There is the rational twenty three me who is just amazed and inspired by these amazing creatures, and then there is the ten year old in me who is just going
TIGER TIGER TIGER TIGER TIGER!!!!!!
I spent almost two hours of getting nothing but footage of tigers and I was the happiest person around town. I did not even mind the growing heat, I got to get footage of tigers playing, running around, eating and playing in a pool. I could have watched and filmed them all day given the chance. The highest point for me was how like small cats they will rub against the fence when they see people they recognize in this case the workers there. They rubbed against the fence like a small cat will rub against your leg. It was then that they prompted me that it was ok to put my hand flat against the fence. When I did this beautiful female tiger rubbed her head through the fence against my hand, and then she liked it. Now to some of you that may not seem like much, and others may think the tiger was just tasting me, but you know what? That was like a life dream achieved. I know that will probably be the closest I can get safely to a tiger and it completely made my day, and sort of my life.
Ok enough tiger embellishing time to move on. After feeding all the big cats, we went to the domestic cat area and fed all the small cats. It reminded me a bit of the Sanctuary piece we did back in California but to a smaller degree. All the cats there were very friendly and even though some of them came from bad backgrounds all of them there seemed very healthy and happy. We were able to do allot of good interviews and learned not just the history but this places mission. The most interesting thing was just visually seeing just how similar these two animals are. Seeing how the domestic cats eat, play, rest and clean themselves, is very similar to how we see Lions and Tigers act too. It really is incredible to see how our regular cats at home can be just almost a smaller version of the graceful and powerful cats we see in the wild. I do not want to say too much, but I really believe that this place is doing allot of good and are helping hundreds of animals. If there is a place that deserves recognition and support its this place.
And with that our shoot was wrapped in just ten hours too! By the time we were done though I was a horrible sweating beast. However a job well done none the less!
So now I am just relaxing in the nice AC watching the Incredibles and relaxing. Tomorrow I say goodbye to Mississippi, and make my way towards Kansas. I will be on the road again soon. Its crazy to think by this time next week I will be in Denver Colorado!
