I have to say, I’ve forever held a special affinity with animals of all sorts. As a kid, I recall rescuing rats and mice from playful (murdering!) cats and picking up frogs and toads from the road and returning them to local ponds or burns (streams.)

I was allowed the usual domesticated pets and before leaving home to get married, we as a family looked after budgies, goldfish, and dogs. I also kept mice and my sister had guinea pigs, though neither of them were allowed in the house.

And for the forty-two years since, my wife and I have always had cats. So perhaps it’s no great surprise my ‘favourite’ animal is from the felidae family – the majestic tiger.

I love everything about this beautiful beast: its coloration; its athleticism; its hunting prowess; its playfulness, confidence and general all-round ‘f*** you’ attitude. (I guess you earn that right when you have teeth and claws as big as a tiger. 😉 )

I’ve been very fortunate to have visited India on many occasions. However, the tiger population is very, very small in Goa where we go, so I have not yet seen one in the wild. (That said, when, last year, we visited a friend of a friend whose house is surrounded by dense jungle, nearby camera traps had recorded a female in the area. There were also several leopards who visited this woman’s garden – and sadly killed a few puppies of the stray dogs’ she encouraged to live in her garden to provide her with an early warning system of possible intruders, rampaging monkeys and predatory big cats!)

The closest encounter I’ve had though is with the one in the photo above. This was taken from the open platform of a minibus as we traveled around a wildlife sanctuary in Karnataka. I know it was probably used to humans gawping at it, and very possibly was tranquilised, but it was a bona fide charitable rescue centre, so I’m positive it was being well looked after.

What a thrill it was! I can only have been a matter of feet away from it – Health & Safety regulations were not in effect, I have to say!

Of course, I must also give a special mention to dogs! Throughout the seventeen and a half years I ran my own Petcare business (I retired in August this year) I looked after all manner of pets (cats, parrots, cockatiels, rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs chinchillas, bearded dragons, geckos fish, tortoises) but the main part of my day was spent in the company of lovely dogs.

What characters they were – I miss them terribly.

Even when we go to India on holiday, I always end up befriending stray dogs.

However, I’d still say the tiger is my favourite animal … though I’ve yet to have one give my face a friendly lick, jump into my lap, return a thrown ball to me or come to my whistle.

OK – shall we call it a draw, then?