#2 - Tiger

http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp26/Tigerjpg

I was requested by a friend to write about tigers, and being quite a fan of tigers myself I thought it would be perfect for my next post :)

So the tiger is another endangered species, and just like many other animals, a lot of tiger 'breeds' have gone extinct. 

I don't know as many facts about tigers as I do about wolves, but don't worry, for I can rant on none the less :P 

I don't really know what about tigers makes them so lovable - I mean, they are huge carnivorous savage beasts when you come down to it. They are hunters, that kill their prey - and I even remember reading a book that explained some people in India (?) I think, had to wear masks on the back of their head, so tigers wouldn't attack them from behind...
Of course, I don't know the facts but it was a kid-friendly book afterall :P

http://awsassets.panda.org/img/fishermen_masks_257625_405212.jpg

I guess it's just how beautiful they are, with the gorgeous stripes and large, muscular body. Their long fur looks so soft and personally it makes me want to go and just cuddle with them lol which being a smart person I refrain from doing so, as I would probably be mauled to death if I did... Actually I remember my local exotic animal reserve place had to get rid of their tigers quite a while ago, as some dude actually did get mauled by one.... awww I miss seeing those tigers though :(

Haha I just noticed that I never capitalize my 'I's so whenever I'm done a section, I always have to go back and fix them... Bad habit I need to fix...

I don't know much about tigers in the wild... I guess I probably should have researched them a bit but that's alright... I'm too lazy to do it now :P But I do know that their coat markings help them camouflage in the long grasses when they stalk their prey. 

http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images

 When I was younger, reading that same book, I learned about the Caspian Tiger, which is extinct,in my opinion it was the most beautiful tiger to ever live. 

http://www.biolib.cz/IMG/GAL/174858.jpg

So there are quite a few breeds of tiger, the most popular ones being Siberian and Bengal, but a lot have become extinct.


Another tiger we should all be familiar with is Tigger :D 
I loved Winnie-the-Pooh growing up and Tigger was definitely one of my favouite characters. Haha whenever I think of him, his 'spelling' of his name always comes to my head: " T - I - double 'G' - ER" 

http://disney-clipart.com/winnie-the-pooh/

There's another animal species that has gone extinct that I was just reading about called the Thylacine (otherwise known a the Tasmanian Tiger or Tasmanian Wolf - as it looks like a tiger-striped wolf.) When I think about it, it just makes me feel really sad, and horrible that it's an animal that our generation will never get to see in real life, because it's gone! I was just reading about the extinction of them and it makes you wonder, the people knew they were going extinct. But even with the last recorded animal, it was said to have died from neglect. Even if it wasn't the last of it's kind left, it's just a horrible thing to let any animal die from neglect... 
And in today's world, animal species go extinct every day. Not all of us know the species that are right on the edge of dying but we all know at least one that's endangered or threatened. Yet we don't change anything in our lives to try and help these animals. It's bad enough that our planet is being overpopulated, and humans are destroying animals' homes for their own... But we cause so much pollution, disturbance, and unbalance to the whole world. Sure, companies are trying a little bit to make their products more 'Earth-Friendly' but they're in it for the money. Consumers want to feel good about buying things, and they feel better if they buy stuff that's better for the environment, thus, they spend their money on the companies that give them this accomplishment. It's just so stupid though. You would think that with all the animal extinctions and plant extinctions too, that people would just stop, and figure out a way to save the Earth. This has been going on too long, with no positive outcome.. sure, we've put an effort into natural energy, and renewable resources, but we still rely so much on those things that are not replacable, and we are just sending ourselves into a pit of doom.. That's my opinion lol quite a bit of a rant there, but anyway, my point was that when I started reading about the Tasmanian Tiger, (which isn't actually a tiger) I was on the verge of crying, that's how upset I was...

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/

So, tigers... Big cats, strong animals, beautiful creatures. I can see why so many people fall in love with this oversized kitty but I am totally against people owning them as pets. The only place that any wild animal should be kept in captivity is a proper zoo, or sanctuary with a place meant and designed for them. Their wild instincts are not a match for a domestic life style, and in end it will only end up in dispair for both the animal and the human. And don't even get me started on poaching... I'll leave that topic for another day.

Anyway, I hope I haven't bored you to sleep with my lengthy rant, but please remember to respect the animals around you at least. Every animal on this planet has value, they have purpose, just like you, me and everyone else in this world. Each one is beautiful and intriguing in its own way. Just like all of us. No species should deserve to completely die out.

And I'll leave you with some more tiger pictures :3 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/

http://s3.favim.com/orig/40/animal-cute-pretty-tiger-Favim.com-337535.jpg

http://imgur.com/D2TAL.jpg

http://image.naldzgraphics.net/2012/03/20-hopeful-tiger.jpg

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdd8ijSYDR1rufrj4o1_400.jpg

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lnqt472LYC1qk15gao1_400.jpg

#1 -Wolf

Yay my first post!! :D 

I guess what I'll be doing is basically just picking a random animal, whenever i feel like posting something, and just give a little info on it, state my opinions, post pictures, blah blah blah... I guess you get it :P  

Post/Animal #1...
 What better animal to start off than the wolf! Yes, it is my favourite animal :)
So in children's books and such, wolves are portrayed as this big mean creature, always the bad guy, trying to eat little children and innocent pigs. This causes many children to grow up thinking that wolves are these mean, man-eating creatures and they become scared of them.

this is the demonic looking creature that wolves have been made out to be

The truth is, wolves are shy and timid most of the time in presence of a human, and they are nothing like the big bad wolf portrayed in the stories. Wolves are a member of the canine (dog) family. Some wolves come close to the appearance of a husky/German Shepard . They are solitary animals for the most part, only bonding in their small pack, that they need to thrive. Wolves mainly eat game like deer, moose or caribou, which can easily outrun a wolf one-on-one. So the pack hunts together, surrounding an animal they have scouted out to be a weak/sick one in the herd making it easier to catch. The pack is able to surround its prey and they work together to take it down. Wolves will also eat rabbit, beaver, or other small prey, that is easier to catch on their own. They do unfortunately attack livestock in the area, because in their eyes, it's just easy prey. However, a wolf will rarely attack a human. In most human attacks, the wolf has either been fed by humans, giving it more confidence, or it could have rabies, or rarely being the case, they have been driven towards civilization from starvation. (That's my understanding anyway - all I have on here is just knowledge from my mind, so if there is something that can be proved wrong, I'm just letting you know that I haven't taken these directly from a source) 

:3

 That's enough 'facts' or whatever, if you want to learn more just google 'wolf' and I'm sure you'll get plenty of results.
I'm just going to ramble on about how I love wolves, they have been my favourite animal for as long as i remember, which is kind of funny, because looking back - my elementary school's mascot was a timber wolf, but that did not influence me to love them any more than I had... I just find wolves these powerful, majestic, intriguing creatures. I've never been lucky enough to see one while camping, but one night this past summer, I was in Algonquin Park lying on the beach of our campground and I heard a pack howling, for the first time. I had gone to a wolf howl before, where the rangers imitated a howl, but unfortunately we didn't get a reply. In a way I am really glad that was my first time hearing them, because it all just seemed so perfect. I was lying on the soft sand of the beach, around 11 at night and I could hear them from somewhere across the lake, well further away than right there, they were quite a ways in the distance. Anyway you could hear the alpha male perfectly, with a few supporting adult voices (the pups would not have been old enough to join in at that time) and you could hear it echo on the lake, it was quite eerie but really just fascinating - haha i sound like such a big animal geek but I guess I am afterall. 

Anyway, thats my story, and I have so much more about wolves that I could talk about, but I'm going to leave it at that. Perhaps in the future I shall make another wolf rant... who knows?? for now, i'll leave some pictures so enjoy!