I Would Have Made a Terrible Mother

So Kaatje and I, the two  major caretakers of Koema, the baby cheetah, realized tonight over a glass of wine, that we were spoiling our baby cheetah. We're both covered--hands, arms, faces (yes, faces)--with cheetah scratches and love bites. This has gotten out of hand. We bleed. We scar. We are embarrassed. Tomorrow we start with more discipline and more dominance.

Koema loves us. He licks us and plays with us and purrs and is generally a wonderful 9-week old cheetah. But he also takes advantage of us. Lick once, bite twice. Pounce with kisses and then scratches. We're both a mess.

So tomorrow the Terror of Harnas will be met with a united front against his terrorism. We are speaking, moving, and disciplining in a dominant way. Sure, it's cute now when he's a ten pound bundle of adorableness, but what will it be like when he's 150 pounds of pure adult cheetah. Tomorrow. The Day.

Or so I think. It will be a battle of wills, I'm sure, but the winner is yet to be determined. He is, as you can see, pretty cute.

On another note: Carolyn is well and back to work. She looks like a new (or the old) woman. It makes me so happy.

On yet another note: today is my birthday. I wasn't going to tell anyone and just enjoy the day, but curses to the internet. Apparently, Facebook has announced my secret. But that's okay. I spent the day spending time with my favorite animals--the ones that are deep in my heart. First thing, a visit to two lions who were cubs when I was first a volunteer in 2007, Zion and Trust. Trust is still mad at me for what happened last week. We were visiting at the gate. They were making gurgling noises and I was petting them, when Trust got too close to the side fence and got zapped by electricity. Now he comes when I call but then turns his back on me and refuses to let me pet him. Zion seems to sense the tension. He lets me pet him, but then he growls and paws at the ground. It's a conflict I'm working on. He blames me, it's clear, but I'm determined to convince him the shock was not my idea.

Then I spent time with Pride and her cubs, Atheno, and  of course, the new terrorist Koema. In between I did errands for Marieta and fed many of the cheetahs that the volunteers are not currently allowed to have contact with. It was a full day. At six, I met with Marty and Kaatje for a glass of wine and then dinner--and despite my best effort, the staff knew it was my birthday. I had a candied pear with cream for dessert. Perfect. BB