testmeat photoblog

on my first day working at senda verde i was responsible for this creature - a tayra called comote. it took me a few days to figure out it was this way around, and for a while i kept referring him to visitors as a comote called tayra. this must have been particularly strange for spanish speakers to hear as comote translates as sweet potato. anyways, as well as feeding him 3 times a day, we also had to take him for walks twice a day. these were often fairly eventful as comote was very hyper and had a predilection for biting. he wouldn't bite hard enough to draw blood, as he was essentially playful, but that didn't stop it hurting. he also had sharp claws whose primary purpose was to climb trees, but also had the added bonus of causing a fair amount of pain. luckily he would exhaust a lot of his energy when we went on these 'walks' so when it came to put him back in his cage he was worn out, and the biting would transform into a soft nibble. i left him in this state when i went to get his afternoon meal, however when i returned the sight, and smell, of the food perked him back up again. i opened the cage with the intention of leaving the bowl of food for him to devour. however his over-excitedness meant that he immediately tried to escape. with one hand holding the food, i went to grab him with my other hand before placing both back into the cage. comote didn't like this barrier between him and his dinner so he sunk his teeth into my left index finger. this time the pain was matched with a deep wound and a lot of blood, and i instinctively dropped both the food and the tayra. it was a baptisim of fire on my first day and left me with a scar and a valuable lesson - never get between a hungry, biting creature and his food.

here's the original