I once knew a man named Michael who had worked more than twenty years, hands-on, with tigers, leopards, jaguars, snow leopards, cougars, and all sorts of smaller cats and other animals. Michael spent part of a year in a wheelchair because of a tiger attack. He warded off attacks from numerous other animals. He developed a training curriculum for teaching people to have contact with large cats. He told me the closest he ever came to dying was when he was attacked by an ocelot. He did not expect the level of aggression in the particular cat, since it was not typical for this individual. When the cat launched at him, he did block the first several strikes before the cat got in one bite. He believed the cat was aiming for his armpit, but what he managed to bite was his inner arm just above the elbow. The cat bit deeply and tore off sideways, opening major blood vessels in the man's arm. Michael managed to ward off other attempts to bite him and leave the cage. He called for assistance from other staff on a radio he carried, and made a tourniquet for his arm. By the time he reached the top of the perimeter area, he was passing out from loss of blood. Another staff member drove him to the hospital.