Week 201 (29th June – 5 July 2007)

Sexual attempts, love scorned, new furniture and an injury:

This week the saga of TigerWoods and Madonna and the failed attempts at mating continued. What was very interesting to note, was the fact that TigerWoods has taken one step closer to sexual maturity. Until now, his testicles have sat very high and tight – protruding noticeably. In the past week, they have dropped and now hang much lower in the scrotum sack – a sure sign of sexual maturity approaching. On a number of occasions he again mounted Madonna this week, still not finding the correct position or angle for penetration. What is encouraging is the fact that Madonna tolerates these clumsy attempts and at times even encourages it, by sitting with back legs spread directly in front of TigerWoods.

The other love affair between Cathay and 327 had its ups and downs this week. On certain days, 327 paid no attention to Cathay, not even going close to the fence where she would be waiting and even rolling on her back to attract him. On Tuesday, 327 was in the front cage of the breeding centre and Cathay was let into the quarantine camp. She was very excited to get this close to 327 again, but at first he simply ignored her. She would pace up and down along the bars chuffing at him while he would be looking away at “something” in the distance. Talk about playing hard to get! Then he suddenly got up, ran into the breeding centre, ran around the inside cages and stormed out again as if wanting to chase Cathay away. She continued to pace and chuff. He repeated this behaviour a few times, and then simply came out into the outside cage, lay down again and pretended Cathay was not there.

327 has been using his bed as a dining room table since he arrived at Laohu. Valley. He eats all his meals on his bed and then ends up sleeping on the cold concrete floor. Another piece of wood was placed in the rear inside compartment of the breeding centre for him to sleep on. He immediately climbed onto it, sniffed it for a long time and then promptly scent marked the entire piece of wood. He also scratched it with his claws, leaving long gashes in the wood.

Whenever there are people in the breeding centre, 327 loves to play. He runs around the inside cages and at times stands on his hind legs, paws stretched up high. While playing like this, he ended up scraping his one leg leaving quite a large gash where the skin and fur had been scraped off. He then proceeded to lick this area continuously, causing clear liquid to ooze from the wound. The wound was then treated with a mixture of fresh aloe juice (very bitter tasting to stop him licking it) and a saturated saline solution to assist in drying out the wound, This injury has however not hampered his movements or his playfulness, nor his appetite.