TPBM - The Photo Below Me [Game]

[hopmedic]

I loved this cat - wish I could go see her again. I live in Georgia now, but when I lived in the St. Louis area, I loved the zoo there, and went often. This is Sofiya, an Amur Leopard. She was about 8 months old, IIRC, when I took this picture on a cold January day. She had been born the prior year, spring, I think, and her mother didn't have a maternal instinct, being a first-time mother. Sofiya was hand-reared in the petting zoo until she was big enough to move to Big Cat Country. On this day, there was snow on the ground, and I was one of only a handful of people at the zoo (I love those days at the zoo - no crowds). When I walked up she saw me and put her paws up on the fence. I could literally have touched her, but I wanted to hold on to my fingers for a few more days, at least. She obviously wanted attention, and having not been that long since she had been hand-reared, she was used to humans. I stood there and observed her beauty for at least an hour, and came away with this shot (one of many), which has been a favorite since.


TPBM is also more dangerous that it appears.

 

[JaiMento]

TPBM is undeniably sweet.

 

[hopmedic]

Orcas?

Back in 2008, I got to see a giraffe just a few minutes after its birth. I stuck around until after it had stood up for the first time. This was at the St. Louis Zoo.



TPBM is also a first-timer.