Jan 13 2017

Cat Updates

Hoover and Charaka the tigers continue to improve.

Charaka is playing, eating, pooping, and doing well. NOTE: In the Viewer Videos from Explore.org/bigcatrescue section below are a few videos of Charaka from this morning. In one he is playing with his new toy and in the other one he is enjoying a good back scratch. Be sure to check those out.

Seth is really REALLY enjoying the pond. He has been in and out of it a dozen times already today.

Running Bear and Little White Dove the bobcats seem to have completely recovered from their dentals.

The cats are dewormed once a month with Ivermectin and quarterly with Panacur. Gale reported that this week’s Panacur session (it’s always three days in a row) went better than she could ever recall. Even the pickiest eaters ate their dewormer. She attributes it to the cold weather and soaking the meat in blood to help cover the taste of the Panacur.

Cat Moves & Vacations

Zimba Serval got a new enclosure where he can more easily see and communicate with other servals in hopes it will distract him from missing his long time friend Zouletta.

Andy Tiger went home from Vacation

Cheetaro Leopard went home from Funcation

Seth Tiger is now on Vacation in the Vacation Rotation.

Mac Cougar is on Vacation in the 22,000 Sq.Ft. FunCation. Mac is very old and after several hours he was still afraid to go on vacation. So we called Matt at work. Matt is Mac’s FAVORITE keeper. Matt came over on his lunch break and helped coax Mac into the FunCation enclosure. So far, during daylight hours Mac is hanging out in the back where he has more seclusion. At night we suspect he is doing more investigating.

Discussion is underway about rotating ALL of the tigers through lakeside enclosures so that they all have more access to pools and swimming in the lake when they aren’t on vacation in the Vacation Rotation. This will be a lot more work for us, because cats shift on their own time, and tend to keep us captive for as long as it amuses them, since we can’t leave the area until everyone is safely in a locked area. We really like the idea though, so watch for a lot more cat moves.

Project Updates

Construction resumed two days ago on the new Bobcat Rehab expansion. Three cages are pretty much done and the fourth one is underway. The first cage is fully seeded and has trees in it. The second and third cages are seeded but need small trees, like Crepe Myrtles. We still need to plant a lot of oaks in between to give natural shade. Those are going to probably run about 250.00 each. If you would like to provide trees for this project you can donate at BigCatRescue.org/freedom

NotesTo Viewers

Sometimes people contact us when they notice a cat on a webcam hasn’t been fed. On the days that we shift cats, we hold their breakfast until time to shift them so that they will follow the food to their cage or to vacation, depending on the way they are heading.

In the 24 year history of the sanctuary, no cat was ever forgotten when it came to being fed. Trust me; they won’t let you forget 😉

Everything we do has a system of double checks where someone who wasn’t involved in the first feeding, cleaning, etc. goes around behind to double check that the person who did the work did it right. While there isn’t an official “feeding double check” the people who clean, right after feeding, are looking for signs that a cat was missed.

We hope this helps everyone understand how we do things and why 🙂 By the way, THANK YOU for caring enough to ask!!! When some of you have asked that question we do understand and appreciate it is because YOU CARE about the cats. That means a lot to all of us. We always encourage people to speak up for animals and ask about their care whether it is here or any other facility. So your willingness to speak up and ask questions is really encouraging to us. You KEEP asking questions of ALL animal facilities! It is important.

I do sincerely urge you to to join our big cat keeper training lessons online so you can see our care processes and the double checks we have in place. BigCatRescue.org/training This training will not only show you how we do things and why it will also help you know what kinds of questions to ask animal facilities. Be sure to check out the free lessons while you are there.

Keeper Fun Notes

KEEPER NOTE: Smalls Bobcat is determined to catch that pesky squirrel. Ariel Bobcat is in her enclosure watching the whole thing! ~Keeper MaryLou

KEEPER NOTE: This post is for a former Level 1 keeper intern and legislative intern Diane for the wonderful belated Christmas gift from India. She spent her fall in India tracking wild tigers. AMAZING!! -Her favorite tiger Zeus (Moose) ~Keeper Afton

KEEPER NOTE: Susann shared this with me in my messages. I love this video so much. Getting to watch special moments I have with some of the big cats just melts my heart. I love how all you hear in the entire video is Cameron roaring and my crazy laugh lol. Susann Mesna: “my favourite explore moment ?” ~Keeper Afton

From Live Video Viewer, Silver, to Jamie

This is a snapshot of Jamie observing Charaka prior to his last medical procedure. Our amazing viewer sent this to Jamie as a purr-sonal gift. Jamie is very touched and appreciative.

Announcing Facebook Live Winner

Each day that Carole does a Facebook Live video she asks a question and someone who answers it correctly wins a prize. So, go to Facebook and Like our Facebook Page and choose to get notifications of our live videos. Winner gets to choose a Day Tour Pass or one item from our online gift shop BigCatRescue.biz

Important NOTE: As of 1/12/2017, we are starting a new way to purr-ticipate in our Facebook Live Video Contests. It will allow us to get the winner announced more accurately. Instead of putting your answers in the video comments you will go to BigCatRescue.org/win to fill out the form to answer the question. If you bookmark the form now, you will have easy access during the contest. The time stamp on that will be much more accurate making the contest more fair. From now on, Carole will always ask the question at the very end of the video so you won’t miss anything.

Jan 12, 2017 Contest

Question: How old is Sabre?

Winner: Nicole Prince

Answer: 24

The way to find answer: Go to BigCatRescue.org/catbio/ which is a list of all the cats here. The scroll down to the “Leopards” section and click on Sabre‘s name. Sabre was born March 1, 1992. He came here on July 20, 1995.

For her prize Nicole chose: The TJ Paw Mug

SURPRISE NOTE: EVERY PURR-son who PURR-ticipated on 1/12/2017 will be getting a hi-resolution digital photo file of Sabre they can print. So be sure to watch your email box. You may print a personal copy of this photo.

January 13, 2017 Contest winner will be announced in tomorrow’s update page. So be sure to check that. Update pages usually go live around 3:00 PM each day.

Big Cat Challenge – QUICK & EASY Today

Today’s Big Cat Challenge is an easy one. After you go over today’s update page go to the comments area below do these TWO things.

1: Tell us something you like in today’s updates

2. Tell us if you learned anything new from today’s updates page

EVERYONE who PURR-ticipates will get a free hi-resolution photo to print.

After you comment telling us the two things in this Big Cat Challenge then email lawanna.mitchell@bigcatrescue.org and choose one of these photos. She will reply with an 8×10 hi-resolution photo file you can print or have printed. Choose one cat from these four: Seth, Skipper, Mickey, or Sundari

BigCatTV.com Videos

Many newcomers have been asking what is going on with Hoover so Afton made and overview video to bring everyone up to date on what happened with Hoover.