Life on the wild side

My time in Thailand is coming to a close. Sadly, my 1 month visa expires in 3 days, so I have to hightail it outta here. I had such a great time here and created so many fun memories. I wanted one last adventure before the curtains closed.... to go out with a bang!
I constantly saw posters advertising something called "Tiger Kingdom". It's a place where you can interact with tigers hands-on. I talked to other travelers and they gave raving reviews, so I decided to check it out.
When I arrived at Tiger Kingdom, I was a little apprehensive about the whole situation. You could choose from different packages. Either smallest, small, medium or BIG tigers. I watched other brave souls get into the cage with the BIG tigers and thought, "There's no way I'm not doing that." I went the safe route and chose to hang out with the smallest tigers. They were harmless at the tender age of 2 months. I was able to play with the cute, fuzzy youngsters and even helped feed one with a bottle.

 At one point, the entire litter surrounded me in the corner as they nestled in for a nap. One licked the bottom of my foot as I was kneeling on the floor. It tickled and made me jump. I watched the precious fur balls sleep and watched their mouth twitch as they dreamt. They reminded me of puppies, and even smelled like one too.

Big yawn!

I found a lone sleeping beauty in the corner and instantly fell in love with him.

I left the "little cat" cage and walked towards the exit, passing by the BIG cat cage once again. Intrigued, I watched these stealthy animals glide across the floor. They were stunning! What an amazing creation! I can't believe the little cubs I just played with will grow up to be so big and potentially dangerous one day! I felt a rush of fear as I thought about getting in the cage with them. As most of you know, I'm a dare devil. There was no way I was going to pass up this opportunity.
I tend to put myself in dangerous situations.
I've swam with sharks in Hawaii.
I've walked amongst wild grizzlies in Alaska.
Why not add a huge tiger in Thailand to the list?
Dear God, why do I tempt fate?
I questioned the Thai girl at the front desk. "Has anyone ever gotten hurt doing this? Any maulings?"
"No.", she replies.
"How long has this place been open?" I ask.
"2 years", she says, while holding up 3 fingers.
I shake my head in confusion.
"Ok, I'll do it", I confirm as I slap the money down onto the counter, which was well over my daily budget. I scribble my signature on a waiver and was guided to the "BIG cat" cage!
I was more scared than a cow in a slaughter house. They open the tiger den gate and I hesitantly walked in behind the handler, whom was a Thai guy about half my size. He's the one that's supposed to protect me? Pfff! He joked the entire time, making me even more uneasy. We walked towards the beautifully striped creature and he says, "Are you hungry, kitty? Doesn't she look tasty?" The tiger laying on the concrete step turns his head quickly and looks directly at me, as if he understood him. I saw a hungry look in his mesmerizing eyes.
My flight response kicked in. "I want out right now!" I demanded. The man tried to take my hand and lead me closer to the tiger. I stiffened up. "No, I want out of here!" I said, trying to stay calm. I could see another tiger pacing sleekly behind me and another one in the corner starting to get up.
Oh God, did they fed them today?!
I finally convince the handler to let me out of the cage. Relieved, and nearly in tears, I gather myself. I watched an English couple subject themselves to the terror as they pet the cats and posed with them for pictures. When they came out, I shyly asked them, "Was it scary?" In unison, they said, "yes!" The English guy made a good point when he said, "you're going to regret it if you don't do it." That was it. That was the sentence that made up my mind. I knew what I had to do. I told the handler I was ready to go back in. I put on my game face.
I forced myself to put one foot in front of the other and, like Nike says, "just do it." I knew I could do this. We get back into the cage and the door slams shut behind us. Klunk!
2 handlers accompany me this time as we enter a different cage.
There are 3 large tigers playing roughly together. One lays down and I point to him. I want to pet that one. He's laying on his side panting and curiously sticks his head up as we approach. They tell me to kneel next to him and pet him. "Not soft, hard. Tiger no like soft.", instructs the handler. Oh gosh, what if I do it wrong and he attacks me?
I lay my hand on the massive animal as he rests and am surprised at how compact he feels. I slide my hand over the rough striped hair. I expected him to be soft, like a kitty cat.

"Hold his tail!" the handler says. "What?! No!" I exclaim. They pick up the tiger's tail harshly and hand it to me. "Be careful! Don't piss him off!" I say.
They laugh at me. I start feeling more comfortable as I use the tiger as a pillow. This is unbelievable. I've seen this animal on TV and in a zoo, but never imagined I'd be laying my noggin on one.

I see the tiger in the corner raise to his feet and start to prowl across the cage in our direction. I didn't think laying on the ground around 3 massive tigers was the brightest idea, so I signaled to one of the handlers that I was done. They tried convincing me to take pictures with the hungry looking tiger walking towards us. I refused and we exited the tense cage.
I was glad to escape unscathed. What a rush!!
I'll tell you a secret: even though I act like I'm scared, I really enjoy living on the wild side! Don't you? It's so much more exciting!

Rawrrr!