Mountain lion 8/6/'12 @ 8:45am

[SteveA]

... me and everyone else at the Squam Lake Science Center!

Very impressive animal.. and we were able to watch the "handlers" feed them and train them to receive injections in case they need to be anesthetized for any medical treatments. Part of the daily feeding process has the "feeder" ( a person behind a very sturdy wire mess screen) reach thru with a syringe without a needle on a long sturdy stick and "poke" the lion on the shoulder. They then immediately follow with a big chunk of raw meat on a second stick that the lion eats. They are conditioned to accept the "poke" from the syringe, in trade for food. Pretty cool.

If the lion co-operates with a number of repetitions of this they are rewarded with what looked like a very large rodent of some sort, that marks the end of the feeding process, and the lions take it away to eat.

The pair at Squam Lake are brother and sister, rescued as cubs in Montana, after their mother was shot and killed by a poacher.

We love the Science Center and have been members for years. Very well run facility and lot's for kids and adults to learn.