TIGERS, POOING AND SWIMMING

I like tigers and am always delighted when I can read something about them. Sometime back there was a really interesting article in the newspaper about what could be done with a tiger's "poo." Here's what it said:

"A tiger's roar might be scary, but Australian researchers have found that the predator's poo is just as potent.

"Researchers at the University of Queensland said Friday they had successfully tested a tiger poo repellant, warding off wild goats for at least three days.

"Goats wouldn't have seen a tiger from an evolutionary point of view for at least 15 generations, but they recognize the smell of the predator," repellant creator Peter Murray said in a statement.

"If we can show this lasts weeks...we've just tapped into probably a billion-dollar market. It's enormous," he said.

Murray said the repellant, made of fatty acids and sulphurous compounds extracted from tiger excrement, also worked on feral pigs, kangaroos and rabbits, and might deter deer, horses and cattle too."

Reuters News released this story and things like this always catch my fancy. I wonder in the first place how someone thought of such an idea. I wish the story had gone into a little further details. How does poo of all kinds in a zoo normally get disposed of? If the Australians can think of such a way to take care of Tiger poo and make money -- billions, yet -- why can't we start such an operation too. Think of all the unemployed people here in the US who might find this right up their alley as a change in career, and in the meantime, if it is a government-run operation, perhaps all those projected billions can help us stimulate the economy with more smells.

While I was nosing around on the internet this morning looking for tigers (I know! I know!), I came across a fantastic news story published in England's Daily Mail newspaper this morning about white Bengal tigers -- especially about one who swims. There is a video to watch, and I'm giving you the link in hopes that you can take a peek at it. All cats have a funny way of closing their nose holes when they are in the water, and this video not only shows that up close and personal, but gives a wonderful look at just what an amazing animal this big cat is. If for some reason the link doesn't work, you still should take the time to go to this website and seek out the video.

But getting back to the Tiger Poo operation, I wonder if a gopher in the central California town of Delano would recognize a tiger poo repellant as coming from a predator, seeing that probably nary a tiger has walked over that hot dry place in a bizillion years.

As for the swimming tiger, here's the link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-458282/The-BIG-cat-likes-getting-wet-wild.html