Cougar Time

We were heading home from the annual
Phoenix Exotic Wildlife Association meeting,
via Reno and a stop over to visit a friend, when
we turned into Tonopah for refueling. We were
running quite a bit behind schedule and it was
looking like we were not going to get to make a
visit that we had been planning on our way into
Reno. The people that we were planning to meet
had an early-to-bed evening, schedule because
of the large amount of work that they do in their
daily routine. I was feeling quite disappointed
at the thought of the missed meeting because
I had heard a lot about these folks and it sounded
like we had a lot of spiritual and philosophical
qualities in common. One never enjoys missing
out in sharing time with kindred spirits.

On our drive I had been thinking about a cougar
that I had heard about. She lived with the people
that we had hoped to meet. This cougar’s sister
was quite the ambassador and had died about a
year ago of kidney failure. These gals were aging
and the beginning of their lives were not of the
best quality. They were true rescues and came
to live with the people that shared some of our
world-views. The cougar I was thinking about
had become an indoor cat as a consequence of
some health problems. For some reason I kept
getting an image in my mind of myself sitting with
her and giving her Reiki. Reiki, for those of you
who are unfamiliar, is a healing method that draws
on techniques that facilitate calling on the Universal
Life Force.

During the drive that proceeded our arrival in
Tonopah we had passed a motor home with an
illustration of a cougar on the side. This was
during some of my Reiki fantasies. I pointed this
out to my husband and mentioned what kept coming
to my mind.

The winds were cold and furious as we pumped gas
into our little Honda Prelude. Our friend called his
friends to let them know how far behind schedule
we were and he expected to be told that there really
was no time for a visit.

As I sat, disappointed, in the Honda, what should
pull in to the gas station? It was the very same motor
home with the cougar painted on the side. My husband
was off talking with our friend. I thought to myself, “
Dang! I think I’m feeling a visitation from a cougar!”
I thought about the unlikely reality of the images I had
in my mind of sharing Reiki with the aging cougar girl.
Somehow, seeing this and feeling the cougar visitation,
I couldn’t quite think that the whole thing meant nothing.
When my husband returned he told me that, surprise,
the people we were hoping to meet were going to stay
up. They wanted to meet us, too!

Wow! It is so hard to have faith in what most of
society thinks of as crazy. I pointed out to my husband
the motor home with the cougar and told him that I
thought that I was having a “visitation”. He’s lived with
me long enough not to really think I’m nuts. He’s seen
some pretty amazing things and even lived to tell about
them. I have to interject here that my husband loves
animals but he was not raised with them. He also is not
the kind of person to seek a close up and personal
relationship with a big cat. He did fall in love with an
ocelot on this trip, though!

When we arrived at our destination we had the honor
of meeting two extraordinary individuals. They truly
felt like kindred spirits that have accomplished many
amazing and wonderful things and continue to do so.
Wow! Loving felines like I do has really brought some
fabulous and courageous people into my life.
Responsible private ownership of exotic felines,
especially big cats, is not politically correct and comes
under attack from extreme animal rights terrorists.
These AR individuals even resort to distortion and lies
to advance their agenda. What is their agenda?
Their bottom line agenda is to end the relationships
between humans and animals. Even if it means the
ultimate extinction of these animals.

My first feline greeting came from an enthusiastic
female cougar. She really wanted my attention! My
friend well versed in feline language, and her
keepers told me that she really liked me and wanted
me to pay attention to her. This was my very first
meeting with big cats. I know that technically
cougars aren’t exactly classified as big cats but she
looked pretty big to me. I wanted to cuddle with her,
but know the limits of my experience and honor the
reality of these limits. This was the very cat that I had
thought about sharing Reiki with.

We sat and chatted, chatted and chatted with our
gracious host and hostess. Other house cats were a
tiger, two bobcats, an African serval, and a lynx.
The serval and lynx were displeased because we had
interrupted their normal schedules. Do you know how
I know this? The lynx screamed her displeasure and the
serval gracefully sat on a kitchen chair, folding his
forelegs under his chest, and gave stern looks of
disapproval!

After a while, during the time when my husband was
chatting with our host and our friend, I became bold
and decided to sit by the cougar and send her Reiki.
I went and sat by her enclosure and quietly asked my
Reiki Guides for permission and guidance. They accepted
my humble request and I began to follow their lead.
This beautiful girl flopped down in front of me and began
the biggest belly-rumbling purr that you could never
imagine in your wildest dreams. Unless you’ve had a
cougar as a friend, that is!

Wow! I think that AR activists are somehow missing
the spiritual boat! If they had ever truly experienced
a spiritual connection to any living being besides the
destitution of modern culture, how could they ever
attempt to form laws that mean the extinction of
some of the most spiritual creatures on the face of
the planet! I can’t express to you the awe and wonder
that my husband shared with me when he saw the ocelot
I mentioned earlier. I’m pretty positive that he’d be
willing to share urine in every corner of the house to
keep this species alive on the face of the planet.

My experiences document only part of a magical
adventure. There were more initiations into the
world that I like to call the “Feline Mystique” and
I wait to share with you all, eager readers, at a future
date. I’ll leave you with a teaser followed by a
conclusion. First I have to say that the reason that I
do not name my friends, furred and otherwise, is
because I do not know, during these dangerous
days, whether it is good to do so. I seek to promote
the survival of exotic felines! The teaser is that I
had even more adventures! I know, this is a kind
of lame teaser. I guess I’ll amend it with these
prospective titles, “Bobcat Songs”, “Chuff”, “The
Proper Serval: Etiquette For Fools”, “A Lioness
Makes a Friend!” I haven’t written these yet, but
perhaps someday I will.

In conclusion, I was recently asked why I was
endangering myself from potential AR attention
to give a care about the cats. My answer: I have
grandchildren! I do not want my progeny to be
denied their relationships with other animals. I
have had the pleasure of circuses, zoos, farms,
private ownership of pets, spiritual connection
to animals in captivity and in the wild. How could
I ever deny that to my decendents? I raised caring
adult humans in an environment rich with other
species. We all stayed healthy and amazingly well
adjusted to the world. This occurred despite
society’s overwhelming drive for power, control,
and money. I also have a deep and abiding passion
for all animals, especially felines. I feel that if
felines and other animals vanish out of our lives
and the world, I really don’t want to live here. I’m
going to amend my last statement, as per my
husband’s request, the world will be a desolate
place with out the other species that share it with
us, human animals. He felt that the way I
expressed my thoughts seemed suicidal. Scary,
don’t you think?