The other day, I went to the Kirshner Foundation to look at their big cats.  They have a leopard named Zoey 2, who was growling, but she was also rubbing her face on the cage and showing off.  It was kind of a low, continuous growl, and I keep wondering if she was in a bad mood or if this was some kind of leopard version of a purr.

Here's a couple of pics of her that I took:

http://picasaweb.google.com/krisl73/BigCats/photo#5129932026355197138

http://picasaweb.google.com/krisl73/BigCats/photo#5129932030650164450

Those are cute pictures!  I don't know leopards all that well, so this is nothing more than a semi-educated guess.

I can say that a growl doesn't always mean a cat's in a bad mood.  There's a lot more to read when trying to determine that.  Judging by the pictures, I'd guess she was in a playful mood, but the growl probably means she was also a bit nervous about your presence.

Then again, she might have just been hungry.  

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Kristina L. wrote : The other day, I went to the Kirshner Foundation to look at their big cats.  They have a leopard named Zoey 2, who was growling, but she was also rubbing her face on the cage and showing off.  It was kind of a low, continuous growl, and I keep wondering if she was in a bad mood or if this was some kind of leopard version of a purr.

Lots of possibilities here, especially with leopards.  They are just...different when it comes to signaling their intentions.  They have many growls, including growls of aggression, which are generally focused and accompanied by a more tense stance, or even growly/rumbles of affection accompanied by stereotypical 'affection behavior'.

If the information from their website it true, and she is really upwards of 4 years old, then she might actually be starting a heat cycle.  She might be rubbing her cheeks to leave marks before trotting around, flopping on her back and acting in a manner that people might think is "cute".  But she might be asking for something other than just a belly scratch

I've been using leopard for 5 days now and it's running without a hitch!

...oops, wrong forum. Wrong leopard, too.

LOL! Bad Dwartz!

Thanks.  It was right about feeding time, so maybe that was it.  It was pretty cool to watch her.

I recently installed Leopard on a mac mini. Now it demands a dish of raw meat twice a day, or else....

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stian wrote : I recently installed Leopard on a mac mini. Now it demands a dish of raw meat twice a day, or else....

stian, the upcoming 10.5.1 update takes care of that.

I have Leopard too on my Macbook Pro... it's pretty finicky.

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stian wrote : I recently installed Leopard on a mac mini. Now it demands a dish of raw meat twice a day, or else....

You're getting off easy with your Leopard, some of the Elder Unixes here make much worse demands  

Like an arm and leg! *licks muzzle* Yummy!

meckelbu: My Solaris server is content with the sacrifice of all sleep for a 3-month period.

stian : My two Solaris servers (E250 & E450) are both trying make me lose sleep with humming and disk operations which can be clearly heard through a wall, too bad for them that I still sleep like a baby.  

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sabercat wrote : Like an arm and leg! *licks muzzle* Yummy!

I once almost lost an arm and a leg and more to my Alphaserver when my hand slipped while I was hoisting it to the topmost place in my rack.    

I use my old mac as a doorstop... does that count?
Simba chewed through two cords on my PC, it's out of commission until a wireless keyboard and mouse replacement can be purchased.

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sabercat wrote : I use my old mac as a doorstop... does that count?

Maybe if you have stubbed your toe in it  

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sabercat wrote : Simba chewed through two cords on my PC, it's out of commission until a wireless keyboard and mouse replacement can be purchased.

I hope Simba doesn't like power cords that much.

So far it's only been one power cord and several mice/keyboard ones...

and I also own a MacBook Pro, which is such a piece of junk, it will soon find itself as a doorstop.

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sabercat wrote : So far it's only been one power cord and several mice/keyboard ones...

Ouch, the power cord doesn't sound good, hopefully Simba wasn't injured.

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sabercat wrote : and I also own a MacBook Pro, which is such a piece of junk, it will soon find itself as a doorstop.

Something specific wrong with it or is it just generally junk?

And laptops are bad doorstops, better when used as paperweights or coasters.  

Simba hasn't been injured to date, although at the rate he's destroying some things, I think a little "injury" might be a detourant...

And I think they are junk, cheaply built, hot and slow for a US$2800 laptop. Will make an expensive doorstop!

I have an E-250 as well, meckelbu. It's on wheels and JUST the perfect height to sit on when I'm working on my cars.