The tigers appear to be a hit at the Freeborn County Fair.

It’s easy to tell when there is a show because hundreds of fair-goers swarm the bleachers and grass surrounding the cage where The Royal Bengal Tigers perform.

“I think it was pretty cool,” said 8-year-old Jacob Wyant after the 5 p.m. show Tuesday.

Another crowd packed the area at 7 p.m.

Brunon Blaszak is a third-generation tiger trainer and breeder based in Myakka City, Fla., east of Sarasota.

His grandparents performed with the big cats and so did his mother and father — from movies to circuses to individual shows.

“And I just kind of took over the family tiger business,” he said.

As a boy, he helped out with small, non-performance duties on tour. He first performed with tigers at the age of 14. Blaszak now tours with his 8-year-old son, for the summer anyway. Though the boy doesn’t perform, he does enjoy the travel and helps out in small ways.

Blaszak has a crew on hand, too. One man can’t do all the work of caring for seven tigers. There are Ada, Gretta, Misty, Ida, India, Margo and Mohina. They perform two times a day.

And is it dangerous working with tigers?

Yes, he says, but, “I feel safer with tigers than the next individual over in an automobile on the highway.”

Blaszak said tigers are trained, not tamed. And though they were born and bred in captivity by his family, they can be rough.

He said he never has been injured by their teeth but has had to suffer scratches from their claws, which have required stitches.

“I’ve had a few close calls but nothing major,” he said.

He said even a farmer working with farm animals can be injured by them now and again.

Of course, each cat has a different personality, Blaszak noted.

“It’s like having seven different kids out there,” he said.

There is an educational aspect to The Royal Bengal Tigers. One is that they are not all Bengal tigers. Misty is a rare Sumatran tiger. Another is that there are more tigers in captivity than in the wild. There are only 5,000 of them in the wild.

The tigers sat in their places and leaped through rings. India performed a high-wire act, which is the climax of the show. Supposedly, she is the only high-wire walking tiger in the world. That was the favorite part of the show for 8-year-old Shelby Hanson. She would recommend seeing the tigers to her friends.

“They should see it,” she said.

Show times

The Royal Bengal Tigers perform at 5 and 7 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. They perform at 3, 5 and 7 p.m. on Saturday, and they perform at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

Look for them to the east of the main road at the Freeborn County Fair, near the fair offices.