Mom has had many kitties in her lifetime. Two others, besides me, were very special to her. Hollywood was one of those special kitties. If you missed part one, you can read how she came to live with mom and how I feel about mom having had another soul kitty by clicking here.
Life was pretty normal for Hollywood for the first couple of years of her life. Then mom and her boyfriend got involved with exotic animals. That, in itself, is a very long story. Suffice it to say, it made for some very interesting experiences for a petite, Himalayan kitty.
Mom and her boyfriend got involved with exotic animals purely by accident as the result of a news story on TV. Once involved with the people who had the exotics, they founded a nonprofit that utilized them for environmental education. Occasionally, lion or tiger cubs that were still being bottle fed were in the house. Remember how I told you Hollywood was so brave? Even though the lion and tiger cubs were already more than twice her size, they did not scare her! If they started annoying her, she would get on the coffee table or other area above them and bat them on the head. I bet mom wishes she had pictures of that!
Mom got more and more involved with the nonprofit. She and the boyfriend became USDA (United Stated Department of Agriculture) licensed exhibitors. When Hollywood was about three, they received a grant and they moved to Nevada where the exotics lived. They acquired two Canadian lynx to have easier access to educational animals. The lynx were only a couple of months old when they arrived and lived in the house for a few weeks until their outdoor enclosure was built. Hollywood never played with them but she had no fear of them either! She would sit on the couch watching them bounce off the walls playing. If they came too close to her, she gave them a good paw whap and they respected that.
Canadian lynx, Marshall Dillon and Miss Kitty
Not quite a year later, mom and the boyfriend got a gray wolf from a local breeder. He was still being bottle fed when they got him so Hollywood grew up with him too. Maybe it’s because she started out older than these critters that she wasn’t afraid. Whatever the reason, she was one brave kitty. Just look at her with this big woofie. Woofies still terrify me.
The lynx and wolf learned to walk on leashes (oh, why oh, why can’t I?) and were socialized with lots of people. Eventually, they started visiting places like schools to help teach kids about endangered species and loss of habitat. They made many trips to California where folks were more interested in the environment than folks in Nevada.
Teachers made lessons of the visits
Of course, during all this traveling back and forth between California and Nevada, Hollywood was mom’s constant companion. But I think that’s a story for next week. I told you Hollywood had some adventures. Makes my life seem pretty boring, doesn’t it?
Wishing you a life filled with adventure.
Christy Paws
P.S. Mom knows there are lots of people out there who do not agree with this sort of thing. Times have changed a lot since the 90s. Even though she does not agree with the zealots who say animals only belong in the wild, she would not do this today but does not regret doing it then.
Hollywood was definitely a brave cat! She sounds a bit like Jewel – Jewel never lived with exotics, but she did live with a big dog, and whenever the dog got too close, Jewel would give her a whap on the nose! Carmine and Milita are terrified of dogs.
Such an interesting life Hollywood and you have lived.
Wow! Talk about a home for everyone! What an experience all of you had.
Shoko
Your Mom and Hollywood had a VERY exciting life! She shouldn’t apologize for anything.
That sounds like a very interesting life Hollywood got to enjoy.
William
Deerest Christy do NOT apawlogize!!!! Oh noss’!! What yur Mumma an her boyfurend did was pawtastick!! Takin care of Lynx’ss an Wolfiess an such iss admirabull….totally!!!!
Yur Aunty Hollywood was sue-purr speshell; not beein scared of anyof them….berry cool….
Fankss fur sharin yur Mumma’ss story. Wee iss totallee innpressed!!
***play bowsss*** an *paw patss* Siddhartha Henry an ((hugs)) LadyMum xxxxxxx
Meeeeow Christy dat’s so pawsum. Weez luv da lynx’s. Me be a lynx pointer kitty meez selff. Weez all ’bout da educatin’ of da yunger peeps. Hope yous have a pawsum day.
Luv ya’
Dezi and Lexi
Wow…….Hollywood certainly did have an amazing life being able to meet some exotic animals up close and personal. The fact your Mom and her boyfriend were CARING for the animals and not just having them for “fun” makes all the difference. Some animals need help when they start out in life. What an interesting life Hollywood had – can’t wait to hear more!
Hugs, Sammy
She was a brave kitty indeed. And very pretty too.
Whoa! I’d love to live with a tiger or lynx or ocelot but not a wolf. As you know it’s illegal to have them in the city.
That is an interesting life!
Have a great weekend…
Noodle and crew
Wow, Hollywood sure had an interesting life! And so did your mom. 🙂
It’s really cool that your Mom got to work with all of these animals. I hope that she was able to educate a lot of people! I think having these animals around humans is great when these animals are given proper respect, but I think that most people who try to keep them as pets don’t know anything about them.
Wow! That is totally cool! Some animals can not be returned to the wild and training them for educational purposes is great.
Kisses
Nellie
We found this quite compelling and really enjoyed learning more about these experiences. Hollywood sure had a very interesting life!
another grate post two day christy; we truly enjoyed it; your cuzin hollywood led one total kewl life…… ♥♥
N we think what yur mom did iz awesome…..therez a SOOPER MEGA HUGE difference bee tween helping ta raise; and educate peepulz a bout exotics….
then havin say…. a …bear ….just coz…….then findin out……just coz…. dinna werk out sew much …. afturr all
heerz two a owens pupfish kinda week oh end ♥♥♥
Oh my! That is interesting! Hollywood certainly had an interesting life!! I have never seen anything exotic!!
Wow! And I thought my life was pretty exciting – I know I’ll never live with lynxes or wolves! Even if it were acceptable today, the care they require is too much for my human.
Wow!!! What an interesting post!
You know what – people may not agree with your practice, BUT and it’s a big BUTT (oh my did I misspell that?) I live in Florida, and I am tired of people complaining about wildlife coming on their property. Well what did they think would happen when they keep building and taking their habitats away. They just passed some stupid thing that will allow people to shoot bears, because they are becoming a nuisance. I could go on and on, but I’ll stop here.
Thank you for educating people, hopefully some day all humans will learn to share.
Suz
What an incredibly interesting post! Not only did Hollywood lead a life of adventure, boy oh boy your Mom did too!! Wow! She must know sooo much about animals in the wild. She should be a docent at the zoo!!!
Mom has a book give-away going on on Dakota’s blog that your Mom might be interested in. It’s about a family that raised baby foxes that they rescued from a demolition site. Tell Mom, it might interest her and if she would like to enter she should! http://dakotasden.net/2015/08/31/book-review-and-give-awaya-fox-in-the-family-by-jane-king/
Love, Cody
catchatwithcarenandcody