A Tiger for her Roommate !
Florida teen Felicia Frisco has an unusual night-time routine. Each night she climbs into bed with a six-month-old Bengal tiger called Will.
Felicia has been sharing her full-sized bed, which has a leopard print duvet, with Will since the day he was born and she plans for them to remain bedfellows until he's at least a year old.
'I get a lot of hair up my nose and all over my sheets !', smiles the Tampa teen, who has been caring for Will since his birth.
'He likes to lick me a lot too,' Felicia added. Will was bred in captivity by her parents who run an educational project called Tiger Encounter.
'It's kind of like raising a dog,' Felicia told Peoplepets.com : 'If you raise a tiger, it's normal to you.'
Thanks to her parents' profession, Felicia has been around animals like elephants, horses and an tigers since she was a baby, and doesn't believe people without proper training should be allowed to keep tigers as pets.
he was born as his mother, a first-time mum, didn't know what to do !
'My parents always say that you don't fully trust an animal, even a dog !', Felicia adds : 'You need to make sure you're aware of the risks.'
Will isn't even Felicia's first tiger bedmate ! Will's father Daruba previously slept in her bed, until he turned a year old.
The teen, who is homeschooled, cares for and sleeps with the big cat - as he was rejected by his mother, who didn't know what to do when Will, her first cub, was born.
She feeds, walks and plays with Will, and says her bond with him is like that of a mother : 'I'm very protective of him and I always want to be around him. He was so small, and watching him get so big, it's kind of like having a child.'
Felicia's parents run Tampa's Tiger Enounter so this lucky teenager has been around exotic animals her whole life.
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