Well, it's about a baby snow leopard rescue, so of COURSE I loved it! The pictures of Leo are fantastic, and so expressive. He was raised by people, and as a result is very friendly with his keepers- I find myself wistfully thinking what a career in a large zoo, like the Bronx Zoo, would be like taking care of big cats. Leo is so adorable, I wish I could sink my fingers deep into his fur! :)
Yup, next Tuesday is the big naming day! There are 4 names to choose from:
- Gobi (go-bee) – named for Gobi Desert in Mongolia - Boke (rhymes with poke) – “Strong” - Irbis (ear-biss) – “Leopard” - Vachir (voch-err) – “Thunderbolt”
Should I post here what I'll be choosing? I don't want to sway anyone's vote... I'm just excited that they're letting us help choose the boy snow leopard cub's name! :) (Perhaps if you ask I'll tell you in a comment...)
I'll post a reminder on Tuesday, and don't forget, you could be the lucky winner of a snow leopard adoption! Plus you could win a plush snow leopard animal, and a signed copy of "“Saving the Ghost of the Mountain: An Expedition Among Snow Leopards in Mongolia” by Sy Montgomery, not to mention a photo of the CUBS!!!! I can barely contain myself here, can you tell?
Also, don't forget that Saturday, August 15th is International Snow Leopard Day! My mom's birthday, and mother-in-law's name day. An important day for everyone! :)
Yes, another zoo this summer! The Sacramento Zoo wasn't crowded at all- almost all of the other visitors were moms with their little ones in strollers. Have you noticed I'm an animal nut yet? Well, I have dozens of pictures of all the animals we saw, but I took the most (*gasp!*) pictures of the snow leopard. So this blog is dedicated to pictures just of her (at least, I think it was a her). So sit back, and enjoy the show! It was hot today (can you tell?)- in the upper 80's, low 90's. Snow leopards live in the highest parts of the Himalayan Mountains and they love the thin frozen air. They have special large nasal cavities that circulates the air to warm it before it goes into their lungs. They also have huge round paws, with thick tufts of fur in between each toe and surrounding the foot pad. The size is to help them walk on the snow without breaking the crust, and the fur tufts are to protect and warm their puddie-paw-pads. :) Here is my goofy Ashton in the foreground. Doesn't she have beautiful spots? Do you know the difference between a leopard and a jaguar? Jaguars have a spot in the center of their rosettes, where leopards have empty circles. This applies to all leopards, not just the snowy kind.
Here is another picture panting in the shade- aren't her eyes piercing and lovely? This picture shows the length of her tail. A snow leopard's beautiful bushy tail is as long as it's body- about 3 feet. They use their tails for balance on those high rocky precipices, and also because chasing the bharal they love to eat can gallop down a hill at full speed and change direction instantaneously, so the snow leopard uses its tail as a sort of "rudder" to change direction to follow their prey. They also use their tails to wrap around their bodies when they sleep for warmth and cover their nose and mouth to warm the air they breath. Check out this profile- isn't she beautiful? While I'm at it, here is a link to the Snow Leopard Trust site. If you'd like to learn more about snow leopards and their habitat, send a free snow leopard e-card, or purchase cool stuff to help support this endangered animal (there are only an estimated 3-7000 left in the wild), this is one of my favorite places to go.
Finally, I have one more treat for you- a video clip! Yeah! So graceful, even in the hot humid weather.
I finally did it! And it was excruciating! For the entire 2 and a half hours. But what's funny is that now what hurts most is my upper thigh on my left leg from laying on my side with my other foot tucked underneath. But that's feeling better too.
So I didn't get what I had originally planned- I wanted a full-bodied snow leopard wrapped on the outside of my left ankle with the tail wrapped around the inside like an anklet. But my ankle was just too small to do that. I had previously decided that if they wouldn't do that, I wouldn't get it done. But after I saw the drawing the tattoo artist had sketched for me, I liked that even better. It is just a head and shoulders shot, and lots of detail. And bright green eyes like I wanted too. :) You wouldn't have been able to see any eye color if it was a full snow leopard wrapped around my ankle. Okay- enough blabbing- here's the photo, but I wouldn't advise blowing it up because you can see how red and bloody and swollen it is in detail. The color will look more natural once the redness goes away and it heals. I promise to post another photo in a couple weeks, and you can look at that one up close. What do you think? Nutcase? Like it?
Thanks Jessica for taking like a hundred photos of my bony ankle to get this one good shot!
I was searching for new non-fiction books at my school librarian conference this weekend, and I happened upon a new title by Jackie Morris called, "The Snow Leopard." (Great website, BTW, check it out if you have a chance- there are some beautiful pictures of a family of snow leopards.) I can only imagine the enthusiastic squeal I think I let escape when the vendor pulled the book off one of the displays when I queried (for the 20th time) if she had any snow leopard books. This is a fiction book, but with a picture book format. Yes, there is a bit of text, but I've seen some picture books with way more words, and I think this one could easily fit on the picture book shelves. But maybe because it's size is so much larger than the other fiction books on the same shelf, it will stand out and hopefully be checked out more often. (Yes, I did already place it on my order for my library branch.) Of course, I'll also be displaying this book every chance I get, so hopefully it will circulate a lot and at least the local children will be exposed to the snow leopard...
This book shares a more mythical story than presents actual facts about snow leopards. In this allegory, the snow leopard sings a song of protection for her valley in the Himalayan Mountains to hide and secret the people and animals. A sleeping child hears her music and sleeps in peace. But all grow old in time, and the snow leopard changes her song, and the valley is invaded by soldiers looking for gold and slaves. She chases them out by sending nightmares until the soldiers think they are being haunted by demons, and run from the valley. When the sleeping child wakes, the snow leopard teaches her about the lark and the swift, the fox, hare, bharal and all the animals who share the valley, as well as her spirit songs of the earth and of protection. And so the old snow leopard leaps to the stars, and the new snow leopard begins her own song.
In my last snow leopard blog I vowed to help educate, and while I'm not writing my own book, at least I can share this one and still feel like I'm contributing. :)
Leo, The Snow Leopard by Craig Hatkoff
