You know, my job at Mac Station a few years back might have been low paying and high stress, but boy, did I ever meet some incredible people out of it.

One such person is a guy named Greg Fawcett. An ex National Geographic photographer, current film worker, stuntman, and animal trainer. One of the most interesting people I've ever met, and someone who's truly lived his life from his heart. I've kept up with him for a few years since leaving Mac Station through computer favors and brief conversations thanks to our common interests in animals and the like. He still, to this day, talks about 'taking over the world' with me.. at least in terms of a beamingly successful business in tourism or animal interaction or something. Hey, the future could hold such things for us!

As part of what he has involved himself with, Greg works with a group called Action Animals who provides exotic animals to movies and TV as well as special live events. It had been years that I had an open invitation to come and see the place but Greg was out of town so often, it never seemed to pan out for a visit. Well, yesterday, that changed.

I went down with two close friends, Trapa and Rye, both animal lovers and people I knew could appreciate the visit the most. That's never an easy choice though.. picking between friends. I'm sorry to those I couldn't bring along :( Rye and I slept over at Trapa's place after Uni's furmeet on Saturday night (wow... I sure had fun that night) and left directly for Abbotsford to meet Greg at 9:30am on the day of the daylight savings shift.

The facility is on probably between 20 and 50 acres of property from what I could see (and judging by the surrounding land and fences). The animals are kept in enclosures at night and during events that are larger than I've seen at some zoos, although not so large that they're difficult to manage. They have all kinds of incredible animals, including Bengal Tigers, a panther, cougar, leopard, racoons, baboons, and numerous types of wolves.



The tigers were really awesome, along with the rest of the big cats. A quick chuff was enough for Greg to know that most of the tigers we went up to see were receptive to having us there. They have at least 3 tigers. One common theme amoungst the animals was that if they were receptive to us (and nearly all of them were), they'd rub against the fence or bars of their enclosure to let us touch them and get pet in the process. We were all quite happy to do so!

There were quite a few highlights to the all too brief visit. First off, Greg's stories about the animals were incredible. He had personal stories or information about every single animal and knew each one and their personalities like I would know any of the dolphins I worked with. Some of his stories were all too real and reminded me of the dangers of working with undomesticated, wild animals. Still, his love for what he did shined through like only a truly passionate person could.



Another highlight was definitely the wolves. I have never been close enough to wolves to really get an idea of how they behave, but I sure did this day. Plus, hearing their chorus howling, as well as the snarling aggressive display the alpha male gave us after a while, were all eye openers to how they really were. The contrast between the different wolves was incredible, whether it be contentment or malace, timidness or boisterousness, they all had a look of definite intelligence and a vague familiarity to all the dogs I've known and somehow compared to wolves. How wrong I was to do that. These are NOTHING like dogs. Their posturing and temperament alone was enough to build that separation in my thinking. I have every respect for people who choose wolf as their fursona :)



It was difficult to leave for sure. We all felt incredible afterward and couldn't shake the images and stories from what we had seen.

In fact, we were so enthralled with the animal time that my suggestion (or was it Draaz'?) of going to the aquarium was welcomed with open arms! So.. we went! We did all the typical stuff visitors there do with me trying to play tour guide as much as i could. Much to our mutual dismay, it seems everyone else in vancouver had decided to go to the aquarium that day too. Crowds were thick and impassible at times and made for difficult viewing for the scheduled shows, but with Draaz and Lisa buying memberships, I think we'll be back soon enough :)

How do we end such a great day? All you can eat sushi! My friend Michele (Mike to some) joined us, as well as Loial, and we all nammed massive quantities of raw fish and cooked japanese goodness at "Fish on Rice" near Metrotown in Burnaby. Great restaurant for $20!

So.. that's it.. now back to your regularly scheduled work life!