February 26 2018

Jennifer Ruszczyk's Coordinator Notes for 2/25/2018

Great day today. Weather was awesome!! We had a great work group from the University of Tampa. They raked one of the bobcat cages and all around the cages. This was a most needed project and was led by Daniel.

2 loads of Laundry are done.  We had a vulture rescue in Cam and Zabu's enclosure. We had sign offs for specialty tours and enrichment.  Diablo got a special enrichment for his rescue anniversary.  Tours were full and we had lots of Happy Visitors.

Note From Carole: When I arrived at the sanctuary I was stopped in my tracks by the majesty of Joseph Lion laying in the grass of the lake bank. His mane blew softly in the morning air and the sunrise glistened on the water and in the dew droplets in the grass. Birds were flying low and there was a cacophony of wildlife sounds welcoming another day. Joseph looked so content and it made me wonder how this old, broken down lion, could look so serene given that he must surely be in his last days of life.

It was a momentary glimpse into my own mortality and sort of a scene of what it's like to stand at the edge of the abyss and see the beauty on the other side beckoning. I don't know how long I stood there, lost in his power and tranquility. The spell was only broken by him yawning and falling over to sleep.

Later in the day, Joseph was quite attentive to his Keepers offering him food, but he'd just take it from them, as if to be polite, and then drop it on the ground. Much later in the day I rode past him on my bike, which always results in him looking up, if not fully waking. This time he didn't blink, so it caused me to turn around and make sure he was still breathing. He was, but I think he's gradually letting go of that cord that binds him to this caged life.

Gabrielle Tiger goes home from hospital after having a huge cancerous mass removed from her belly.  Keepers were able to transport her with no stress to her because they had been using a canopy and tarps to make the transport cage a shady place to nap and get snacks. So when it came time to move her today, when was already in the transport cage.

She is doing really well after her surgery.   Due to her incision she had to be on concrete for the last several days to keep her from getting dirt in it.  She will be very happy to get back home, today.

Her tummy looks funny because the back of her belly still has saggy skin which is normal for really old cats, while the front skin is no longer loose and saggy due to the amount of skin removed during her surgery.

While she was in the recovery cage volunteers have painted her cages in areas, they have raked it, landscaped, cleaned off the roofs of her cages, etc.  That means she will be busy when she gets home checking out the changes and re-marking her spaces.

This past Thursday the cats were on the move.

• Manny is home from FunCation.
• Priya is home from Vacation
• Keisha is in Vacatiom
• Natalia is in FunCation

Priya Tiger Goes home from vacation.

To show our appreciation for our wonderful volunteers and interns, Victor and Jamie arranged balloon rides.  Once a year volunteers all vote on their favorite keepers and partners. Join us for a fun afternoon of great food, and appreciation.  More photos and videos were posted on yesterday's Big Cat Updates.

LOL, Oh, the things a keeper sees.... Seth Tiger you are so funny!!
By Keeper Karla

Keeper Photos

If YOU want to see more keeper photos join our Official Facebook Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/bigcatrescue/ to see photos and videos from keepers and chat with over big cat friends, too.

Narla really likes her belly rubbed!!

Six amazing volunteers have gotten together and have started editing the automated closed captioning that YouTube adds to our videos.  So far, they have added corrected Closed Captioning to 17 videos.

THANK YOU to the following CC Team

1. Dianna Standen
2. Carole Judge
3. Crys Marrs
4. Cathy Ryan
5. Deb Quimby
6. Vibeke Jespersen

What is Big Cat Rescue? Get a 360 Virtual Reality view of the sanctuary and the work made possible by fans like you.

Note From Carole:  360 is the future, so I am spending a LOT of time in Adobe Premiere trying to get used to the software. It's taking me a very long time, but if I don't edit right after shooting, then I can't remember where the best shots were during filming and that makes it go even slower.

The Volunteer Party resulted in hours of film I had to sort through for the final cuts and while rendering, my iPhone was tied up in the process. The Rylo 360 camera does the stitching and color correction while hooked to the phone, rendering it useless for filming...or anything else for that matter.

Failure to film more LIVE footage is compounded by the short days of winter, and it's already so hot here that even though I go out 2-4 times a day, it's hard to find a cat who isn't sleeping. Facebook gives us the most love for LIVE, so it's my intent to do as much of that as I can. - Carole

Here at Big Cat Rescue we ABSOLUTELY LOVE Explore.org. Their super high quality web cams at Explore.org/BigCatRescue lets people watch the cats streaming live 24 hours a day.  Viewer Susann Mesna has been very consistent at recording fun clips and uploading them to Big Cat Rescue's social media sites.

Can you handle the cuteness?