Auroara Tiger Nearly Drowns Us Both

 

 

 

I’d taken Auroara out into the lake for a photographer named Stone, I think, to get shots of her swimming and splashing around.  Auroara loved to swim and splash around in her cage, and I’d frequently take her out on a leash so she could bound around the lake bank.  I remember taking her to a donor’s party one time, and when she saw the pool, she darn near dragged us both in, as she bolted across the manicured lawn.  I had to dig my heels in, like I was skiing, to pull her to a halt. 

 

From the lake surface it is hard to tell sometimes if a tiger is really swimming or if they are walking on their back legs and just going through the motions with their front paws.  On this day with the photographer, Aurora was having a blast the the photographer was getting those once in a lifetime shots.  We were doing photo tours to compete with the horrible things done at game farms.  If we could give photographers what they wanted, without abusing exotic cats, it was a win, win that I hoped would put the game farms out of business.

 

Auroara stepped backward and fell into a hole we didn’t know was there and went under.  Panic ensued and I could see she was going to drown, so I dove in but she wrapped her paws around my arms so tight, I couldn’t swim, so we sunk to the bottom. 

 

I kicked hard against the bottom of the lake to push out heads above the surface where we both gasped for air, and then we’d sink again.  I couldn’t break free of her panic-stricken grip so we had to just try to bounce a little closer back to the shore each time until we were in shallow enough water that I could stand up and Auroara could feel the ground under her feet again.  I don’t know how many times we went under because I couldn’t get a good enough kick on the steep side slope of the underwater hole with Auroara thrashing about. 

 

Later I noted:  It was the last time I took her out in the lake.  She had lake access in her cage, but the water wasn’t deep there back then.

 

I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

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Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.