There really is nothing like the experience of independent travel, what with the freedom to visit new destinations on a whim, sample new cultures and foods, soak up new life experiences with ample time AND meet the most interesting people along the way. I certainly never expected to be living in the heart of Bolivia for a month, let alone assigned to the daily care of a highly-active mountain puma, but I guess that´s how things go when you keep things flexible.
Having worked with "Roy" for 3 weeks now, I´m convinced that walking a puma has to be one of the craziest jobs in existence. Physically demanding to the point of insanity, the work is less "walking" and more running, scrambling, stumbling and sliding over steep, often wet slopes in humid Amazonian jungle with your cat on a long leash for 5-6 hours a day. Possibly the trail´s only saving grace is the ability to clip Roy´s lead onto occasional ´runners´, which comprise of taught cables strung from trees down into the steepest ravines; saving his carers all but guaranteed broken bones if trying to keep up as the puma bounds down in seconds with unbelievable finesse, balance and speed.
Each cat in the reserve has their own back-story which almost certainly influences how they behave towards people in their older years and although Roy´s past was less sad than others (ie. he wasnt kept in a small cage until his legs became buckled), he was unfortunately encouraged to jump up, high and aggressively when young. Nicknamed "the angel of death" by park coordinators, its equally ´mentally exhausting´ trying to stay one step ahead of his single-minded, often mischievous thinking and potential actions thereafter involving the trademark ´playful but hard´ attacks with jaws, occasionally claws and all 55kgs of weight.
Such regular ´tests of strength´ by males in their prime are supposedly a normal behaviour trait though, sometimes occurring multiple times daily for weeks on end until the cat begins to accept your self-assured dominance. From the first day Roy was testing me, opening his mouth wide as he walked passed my legs or occasionally pouncing when he thought I wasn´t looking and although I initially had some success in avoiding to back away, making direct eye contact or raising my voice, he did not let up for the first 10 days. It probably didn´t help when early on, he managed to bring me down with his large paws and stare directly into my eyes before the final pounce, sending me barrel rolling 5 meters down a steep slope. Essentially not controlling the animal within seconds by reaching down past the mouth to the carabena hanging off his collar, causes more agressive, excitable attacks with stronger bites and deeper scratches, many of which I´m still nursing from weeks ago. Still, once overcoming the fear of being tested by a potential man-killer and realising most of it is simply territorial play, allows the appreciation and enjoyment in getting to know one of nature´s most amazing predators intimately and although it was a hard journey for my body (and clothes) to take in getting used to such abuse, the experience is definitely well worth it. Each day Roy´s personality slowly reveals that he´s just an overgrown pussycat with a justified superiority complex but he´s also been my most effective personal trainer to date for sure :)
Lastly, I guess my original knee injury has AT LAST been healed, because although I took things more gingerly initially, it´s held up well over the past few weeks including many recent wet days where the puma actually moves faster on his trails, which is just mental for us to deal with. I still have over a week to go though, so reserve the right to step down if absolutely necessary.
There really is nothing like the experience of independent travel, what with the freedom to visit new destinations on a whim, sample new cultures and foods, soak up new life experiences with ample time AND meet the most interesting people along the way. I certainly never expected to be living in the heart of Bolivia for a month, let alone assigned to the daily care of a highly-active mountain puma, but I guess that´s how things go when you keep things flexible.
Having worked with "Roy" for 3 weeks now, I´m convinced that walking a puma has to be one of the craziest jobs in existence. Physically demanding to the point of insanity, the work is less "walking" and more running, scrambling, stumbling and sliding over steep, often wet slopes in humid Amazonian jungle with your cat on a long leash for 5-6 hours a day. Possibly the trail´s only saving grace is the ability to clip Roy´s lead onto occasional ´runners´, which comprise of taught cables strung from trees down into the steepest ravines; saving his carers all but guaranteed broken bones if trying to keep up as the puma bounds down in seconds with unbelievable finesse, balance and speed.
Each cat in the reserve has their own back-story which almost certainly influences how they behave towards people in their older years and although Roy´s past was less sad than others (ie. he wasnt kept in a small cage until his legs became buckled), he was unfortunately encouraged to jump up, high and aggressively when young. Nicknamed "the angel of death" by park coordinators, its equally ´mentally exhausting´ trying to stay one step ahead of his single-minded, often mischievous thinking and potential actions thereafter involving the trademark ´playful but hard´ attacks with jaws, occasionally claws and all 55kgs of weight.
Such regular ´tests of strength´ by males in their prime are supposedly a normal behaviour trait though, sometimes occurring multiple times daily for weeks on end until the cat begins to accept your self-assured dominance. From the first day Roy was testing me, opening his mouth wide as he walked passed my legs or occasionally pouncing when he thought I wasn´t looking and although I initially had some success in avoiding to back away, making direct eye contact or raising my voice, he did not let up for the first 10 days. It probably didn´t help when early on, he managed to bring me down with his large paws and stare directly into my eyes before the final pounce, sending me barrel rolling 5 meters down a steep slope. Essentially not controlling the animal within seconds by reaching down past the mouth to the carabena hanging off his collar, causes more agressive, excitable attacks with stronger bites and deeper scratches, many of which I´m still nursing from weeks ago.
Still, once overcoming the fear of being tested by a potential man-killer and realising most of it is simply territorial play, allows the appreciation and enjoyment in getting to know one of nature´s most amazing predators intimately and although it was a hard journey for my body (and clothes) to take in getting used to such abuse, the experience is definitely well worth it. Each day Roy´s personality slowly reveals that he´s just an overgrown pussycat with a justified superiority complex but he´s also been my most effective personal trainer to date for sure :)
Lastly, I guess my original knee injury has AT LAST been healed, because although I took things more gingerly initially, it´s held up well over the past few weeks including many recent wet days where the puma actually moves faster on his trails, which is just mental for us to deal with. I still have over a week to go though, so reserve the right to step down if absolutely necessary.
