# Put a Tiger in your tank...NOT IN YER FREAKING APARTMENT! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 5, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-a-tiger-in-your-tank-not-in-yer-freaking-apartment/205730 "2003-10-05T17:31:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-a-tiger-in-your-tank-not-in-yer-freaking-apartment/205730/1 "2003-10-05T17:31:29Z")
400 pounds of Tiger shares bedroom in 4th floor apartment. **And the neighbors never knew it was there!!!** :eek: :eek: :eek: [LINK](http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/10/04/nyc.tiger/index.html) They also had a crocodile. The guy who owned it was mauled by it! I guess he just let it _wander around the apartment!_ This man is a genius of idiocy. :smack: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krisfer_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-a-tiger-in-your-tank-not-in-yer-freaking-apartment/205730/2 "2003-10-05T17:47:47Z")
Where does 400 pounds of tiger sleep? Anyplace it damn well wants to! ---
**Author:** ![pezpunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@pezpunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pezpunk)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-a-tiger-in-your-tank-not-in-yer-freaking-apartment/205730/3 "2003-10-05T17:48:11Z")
First Roy…now this. I’m beginning to think that tigers just don’t make good pets. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to settle for a Rhino or something. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-a-tiger-in-your-tank-not-in-yer-freaking-apartment/205730/4 "2003-10-05T17:54:59Z")
Now that’s a cat box! ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-a-tiger-in-your-tank-not-in-yer-freaking-apartment/205730/5 "2003-10-05T17:57:54Z")
What does a 400-pound tiger eat? Anyone it wants to! I’m impressed they went to the trouble to dodo a M:I-style attack to sedate the animal, rather than bursting in and killing it. I hope they find a good home for it. Oh, and understatement of the day: “The apartment was described as ‘disheveled.’” No, really? Who’d have expected _that_? ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-a-tiger-in-your-tank-not-in-yer-freaking-apartment/205730/6 "2003-10-05T18:11:43Z")
His butcher just _had_ to know! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-a-tiger-in-your-tank-not-in-yer-freaking-apartment/205730/7 "2003-10-05T18:15:45Z")
Check out the link to the photo gallery on the same page. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-a-tiger-in-your-tank-not-in-yer-freaking-apartment/205730/8 "2003-10-05T18:16:04Z")
It’s a pity they don’t have Miniature Tigers, I’d like one for a pet. ---
**Author:** ![Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Horrifying\_Howler\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horrifying_Howler_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-a-tiger-in-your-tank-not-in-yer-freaking-apartment/205730/9 "2003-10-05T18:29:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Michael Ellis \* > \*\*It’s a pity they don’t have Miniature Tigers, I’d like one for a pet. \*\* A cat? ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-a-tiger-in-your-tank-not-in-yer-freaking-apartment/205730/10 "2003-10-05T18:34:30Z")
I have looked for a cite for this, because no one believes my story. Best I have is an old newspaper clipping from Washington Post 1989 detailing the story. I will tell it anyway. I went to high school in Falls Church, VA. In the grade above me were two likable losers, Barney and Joey (real first names). Both were the type of kids who filled their days with shop classes and surreptitious joints between print shop and wood shop. I knew them fairly well because Joey had always had a crush on my younger sister and hung around our house as often as possible. Barney and Joey were neighbors and from somewhat troubled families. Joey lived with his father who was an alcoholic. Joey was kicked out of his house for his enjoyment of pot. He set up shop in an abandoned school. The school was formerly the Whittier School and had been closed down and was to be demolished. A few select kids knew how to get in through a broken window and then you could open a back door that could only open from the inside. Barney and Joey took up residence there. They brought furniture into the locker room and used the toilets and showers as they saw fit. This was at the very end of their senior year and they were both 18. Somehow (exactly where they picked up the piece of information to follow is in some dispute) they heard of the addition of a baby Bengal tiger to the Reston Petting Zoo. The tiger was not for general petting. After much drinking and pot smoking they hatched a plan. They wanted a pet and the tiger would do. They dressed in all black and drove to the zoo. The climed the outer fence and cut into the outdoor part of the tiger enclosure. They absconded with the tiger in Barney’s pickup truck. Brought the tiger back to the locker room and made a run to the supermarket to stock up on meat. Of course this quickly became a problem. The animal was always hungry and sobriety led them to recognize the error of their ways. It is more difficult to return a tiger than steal one. Especially when the story is still fresh on the news. Not being terribly bright MANY people were soon regaled with news of their ninja ways and invited to see the tiger. It took two days for the information to filter to the police and they were arrested and the tiger was returned. This story, understandably, has become legend around my small high school. I was not quite old enough or popular enough to see the tiger before the arrest, but the events related above are accurate except for minor details. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-a-tiger-in-your-tank-not-in-yer-freaking-apartment/205730/11 "2003-10-05T19:05:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Magayuk \* > \*\*A cat? \*\* Cat =! Miniature Tiger. Cat = Cat. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-a-tiger-in-your-tank-not-in-yer-freaking-apartment/205730/12 "2003-10-05T23:25:50Z")
A few years ago something similar happened in Philadelphia. A guy named Francesco Rodriquez had a pet tiger in his apartment. It wasn’t full-grown, about the size of a medium to large dog (I don’t know how old that would be). The authorities found out when it somehow it fell out of the apartment window (on the second story, iirc). It was taken to the Philadelphia Zoo and eventually died of a viral condition. Eric ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-a-tiger-in-your-tank-not-in-yer-freaking-apartment/205730/13 "2003-10-06T15:57:46Z")
Wouldn’t the neighbors hear the tiger meow (roar)? Even purring would be very loud. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2003, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-a-tiger-in-your-tank-not-in-yer-freaking-apartment/205730/14 "2003-10-06T23:15:39Z")
mr halper has it right. the wee tiger, (corona) was just a cub not quite a year old. until corona got sick and passed on… it was on view at the zoo. quite the little cutie. that’s what i wondered as well, isabelle, wouldn’t they smell, see, hear, a tiger living in the building. corona’s owner was spotted walking the tiger and the police were called. while discussing this in work we figured the tiger that was in the harlem apt. was about the size of 3 saint bernards. just imagine how much output 3 st b’s can output! how do you hide that? he had to take the tiger out to do it’s business, or that apt. would be awash in output. i did find it amusing that he zipped down to philly for treatment. perhaps it was because the giant colon was in town and since he missed the tour of the tiger’s colon he could go through the giant one instead? ---
**Author:** ![Capcha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Capcha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capcha)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-a-tiger-in-your-tank-not-in-yer-freaking-apartment/205730/15 "2003-10-06T23:31:37Z")
**Isabelle** Big cats, unlike our tiny friends, cannot purr. They can surely growl though 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-a-tiger-in-your-tank-not-in-yer-freaking-apartment/205730/16 "2003-10-07T00:34:19Z")
> [@](#): > > [tigerfreedom.org](http://www.tigerfreedom.org/about/profiles/ron.html) > Bengal tigers purr. Domestic cats purr when breathing in as well as out, Tigers only purr while breathing out. > [@](#): > > [San Diego Union-Tribune](http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:1ogEBp9N3eQJ:www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/strange/20020604-9999strange95.html+tiger+purr&hl=en&ie=UTF-8) (cached) > Q. Do big cats such as lions, tigers and leopards purr like housecats? > > A. There’s no doubt that big cats can purr… just ask anyone who’s ever worked with them in a zoo or circus, says Mark A. Pokras, director of the wildlife clinic at the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. “Of course, they purr much louder than your typical household cat–tends to vibrate your whole body if you are close by.” > > Tiger trainer Sara Houcke, of Ringling Brothers Circus, told the “New York Times” her tigers purr to her and she purrs back. That way, when the tigers aren’t purring, she “knows they are in a bad mood and stays away from them.” > > But being there within earshot when a big cat’s in the mood is rare enough that University of Minnesota biologist Craig Packer says he’s never heard a purr in 25 years of studying lions in the wild. When lions do purr, it’s brief, probably issued only on the exhalation phase. So the lion- sound probably has little social significance. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-a-tiger-in-your-tank-not-in-yer-freaking-apartment/205730/17 "2003-10-07T02:22:39Z")
I’m trying to imagine what tiger puberty in that apartment would be like… spraying, yowling, clawing the pipes out of the walls… ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/put-a-tiger-in-your-tank-not-in-yer-freaking-apartment/205730/18 "2003-10-07T03:44:01Z")
According to written reports I’ve seen, all the neighbors knew about the tiger in the apartment- and most of them either ignored it or thought it was kina cool! Not that this kind of idiocy is limited to New York, mind you. Here in Austin, the local zoo USED to be a tiny, petting-type zoo for kids, filled with goats, ponies, sheep and the like. Over time, they’ve become a fairly large zoo with loads of animals they never wanted or expected to have: tigers, lions, cougars, bears, you name it- and almost all of them are animals that some moron was keeping in his house, backyard, or trailer park. Tiger cubs, bear cubs, lion cubs, et al, seem adorable. But in a few years, they grow into large, dangerous predators that no one knows how to handle.