Tiger tragedy

We had seen on TV the dreadful accounts of the tiger at the San Francisco Zoo, which killed one man and severely injured two others. Also in the Dec. 27 Portland paper there was a picture of Tatiana, the tiger, which was eventually shot and killed.

How did this 300 pound tiger escape from its 18-foot-high walled pen, with a 20-foot moat? The zoo’s director said that the tiger did not escape through an open door. He said, “The animal appeared to have climbed or otherwise leaped out of the enclosure. It is unlikely the animal was looking for food, as it was well fed. Were people taunting the animal, or were they throwing things that were making it angry?”

About 20 visitors were in the zoo when the attack happened, about an hour before the 6 p.m. closing time. Employees and visitors were told to take shelter, and some employees locked themselves in buildings, as they had been instructed to do in such cases.

Four officers hunted down and shot the animal after police got a 911 call from a zoo employee.

A spokesman from the Miami Metro Zoo said it is unlikely a zoo tiger could make such a leap.

The former director of the Columbus Zoo said such a leap would be an unbelievable feat, and virtually impossible. He said that visitors might have taunted the animal and might have even have helped it get out by, say, putting a board in the moat.

I wonder why the man who was killed and the two who were injured were not rounded up by zookeepers, to give them shelter.

There is much more to be explained about this tragedy.

Reminded of ‘Madeline’

Among my favorite children’s books is “Madeline,” written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans, with Parisian scenes of the Eiffel Tower, the Opera, Notre Dame, the Tuileries Gardens, etc. It is a classic.

One of the pages shows her all by herself smiling, greeting a tiger, in its cage at the zoo. The other little students are all huddled, in the background, with their leader, Miss Clavel, all with frightened looks.

The cutline said,

“To the tiger in the zoo

Madeline just said, ‘Poo-Poo'”

The book is delightful and one you parents (and grandparents) should read to your young offspring. You will enjoy it, too.

It is a childhood classic and was written in 1939. I called Longfellow Books in Portland and they still sell it there. I’m sure your local bookstore will have it in stock, too. You’ll find yourself and your children often quoting the brief, rhyming lines on each page,

“She was not afraid of mice,

She loved winter, snow and ice.”

The colored illustrations are very clever, too.

Cheesey casserole

This interesting recipe is from Mary Webber’s “Frugal Family’s Kitchen Book,” 1985. We received a package of cheeses as one of our gifts, and one of them is blue cheese, a favorite of mine. I used leftover turkey, of which we have a good supply.

BLUE CHEESE CHICKEN CASSEROLE

2 cups leftover chicken (or turkey)

3 cups cooked wide noodles

3 tablespoons margarine (or butter)

1-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch (I use flour, not cornstarch)

Salt and pepper

1 cup milk

1/2 to 3/4 cup blue cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup celery, chopped

Make a white sauce of the margarine, salt, pepper and milk, as you usually would. (I add a small amount of flour to my white sauce). Add the blue cheese, celery and chicken (or turkey). Stir in the noodles and pour into a casserole. Bake at 350 degrees about 35 minutes. This is wonderful with asparagus or broccoli.

Ramblings