March 21 2017

Big Cat Updates

Cameron ate a small breakfast but he did eat a good lunch.  He will of course be taken more food this evening.

Joseph ate a decent breakfast, we’d like him to have eaten more but he did okay this morning.  We are trying to transition him back to eating regular meals in his lockout.

Keisha ate only part of her breakfast but then did eat well for lunch.

Zeus ate a really good breakfast and as usual the keepers will be taking him dinner, as well.

Hoover ate four times yesterday and he only wanted a small breakfast this morning so of course his room service has continued throughout the day.

TJ took his meds like a good boy this morning but refused the rest of his breakfast, so of course keepers will continue to offer him more food.

 Keeper Corner

10 week reward while interning at Big Cat Rescue. Had the amazing opportunity to do Operant Conditioning with Zabu the White Tigress ~Intern Kaitlyn

I was nominated by my friend Rebecca B for the 3 day challenge against animal abuse. I will post a cat/dog picture and challenge 3 friends to do the same each day.
Kricket is a serval at Big Cat Rescue. She was owned as a pet and her vegan owner insisted that Kricket preferred broccoli instead of meat. In the fourth picture you can see that her tail is unusually curled, likely a result of her insufficient diet. Cats are obligate carnivores and must be fed a proper diet, despite your personal convictions. Refusing to feed your animals a proper diet is abuse. Servals are wild cats from Africa and do not make suitable pets. Forcing a wild animal to live as a pet is abuse as well. ~Keeper Valerie L

One of my favorite cats at MASH.

We think of our Interns as “Angels In Blue”

CLICK HERE to learn about becoming an Intern at Big Cat Rescue Some of our Angels in Blue go on to become keepers.

Enrichment photo from Dec 2014

Photo from Nov 2014

Making Enrichment

Interns and Keepers work very hard but they always manage to make it fun.

 Big Cat Gift Shop – *NEW* Wyeth Shirts

Wyeth was hit by a car in February 2017. She was rescued by a Sheriff’s Deputy whom she is named after. Muscle and nerve damage following her accident hindered her ability to walk. After more than a month in rehabilitation she has now fully recovered. Wyeth is scheduled for release in March 2017.

Read Wyeth’s Story

The sales of this shirt will go towards our FL bobcat rehab program to give injured or orphaned bobcats a second chance at freedom. Bobcat graphic on tee is derived directly from a photograph of Wyeth featuring her typical sneer. Subtext below Wyeth’s name reads: Rescued 2.13.17 Released 3.30.17

Unisex Tees – SIZES:  Small to 3 XL  COLORS:  City Green, Smoke, Maroon, Black, Chocolate, & Lake

This is a classic tee that has a light feel. Made of 100% ringspun cotton (except for heather colors, which contain 10% polyester). Pre-shrunk.

Womens – SIZES:  Small to 3 XL  COLORS:  Black, Sport Grey, White,  Ash, & Pink

A heavy cotton, classic fit ladies scoop neck t-shirt. 100% cotton jersey, pre-shrunk, near-capped sleeves, mid-scoop neck, ½ rib double needle collar, missy contoured silhouette with side seam.

Unisex Up to 5 XL SIZES:  Small to 5 XL  COLORS:  Maroon, Jade Dome, Forrest, Sapphire, Olive, Black, Cherry Red, Blue Dusk, Irish Green, Navy, & Light Pink

Your typical 100% cotton t-shirt (except for heather colors, which contain 10% polyester). Pre-shrunk to make sure your size is maintained throughout several washes, and a classic fit. Pre-shrunk. Classic fit.

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 Viewer Videos From Explore.org/bigcatrescue

There are some GREAT videos recorded by viewers at explore.org/bigcatrescue that you will really enjoy watching.

VIDEO:  What happens if you get too close to a lioness?

VIDEO: Strategies and tactics of the Squirrels Army, Niki March 21

VIDEO: Beautiful Keisha by the lake in the morning, VR March 21

VIDEO: Niki having some fun in the morning, March 20

VIDEO: I’m not lazy, I just save my energy, Niki and the vulture, March 21

VIDEO: A vulture walks into a lioness…

VIDEO: Seth visiting the lake, TJ sleeping

VIDEO: TJ doesn’t agree breakfast is the most important meal of the day

Here is a list of YouTube channels that feature videos of the cats here:

• Susann  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUFOZiTvzKRvj-oVbzdByvg
• Ruxandra https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvCsjKptd1gM9BhfDkGQGNg
• Donna P:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcFbhMc8Sqr-8MreWuYr4Bg
• Shawna https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfl9S-vDPJIgjl8QpM6Aypw
• Cathy S https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6ynHBFLKj0BVnK5jo2gTnw
• A Heart For Nikita https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSxAXUTh29XWQw35acpU1Ag

 BigCatTV.com

St. Patrick’s video from March 2014

 Featured Big Cat – Reise

Female Cougar – Approx date if birth 1/1/1995

Rescued 9/22/2013

Her name is pronounced Rye-Zuh and is German for Journey which is certainly appropriate for a cougar who was born into the pet trade in 1995 in Texas, was shipped to New York and then traveled to a rescue center in South Florida before taking the last road trip, at the age of 18, to her forever home at Big Cat Rescue in Tampa.

Read her story and see rescue photos at:  http://bigcatrescue.org/reise/

VIDEO:  2/13/2016 Reise & Her Ball

Reise LOVES to play, especially with balls.  It is so funny the way she works to get all her balls put together when she is ready for a nap.

Photos of Reise

Reise Oil-edited wallpaper

VIDEO:  Reise Cougar Halloween Oct 2014

Reise cougar plays with her pumpkin then takes it to her lair where nobody but she can get at it.

VIDEO:  December Big Cat Birthdays Dec 2015

If you’d like to adopt/sponsor Reise you can find her sponsor kit at:  https://big-cat-rescue.myshopify.com/products/cougar-sponsorship

 Viewer Pix

Viewer Matthew Barberio:  I made this photo collage last night as a memorial to Charaka. I’ve seen those beautiful collages in the daily updates lately and it inspired me (along with the fact I’ve been designing a few things for Carole) to make it. I chose Charaka because I have a lot of photos of him and he was one of my favorite cats.

Matthew’s design can be found at CatRescue.biz:  https://catrescue.myshopify.com/search?q=lines Sales from these shirts will help support our legislative efforts for The Big Cat & Public Safety Act.

Viewer Beth Dulco Parent:  Beth got some great screen captures from Seth’s web cam at Explore.org/TigerLake

Seth’s Lazy Afternoon by Tiger Lake

 Cole & Marmalade‘s Corner

You can relate to this right?! 🙂

 WANTED – Graphic Artists

Carole is looking for a graphic artist who really gets what we are all about and would would like to help us with some graphics for shirts.  If that is you or if you know someone like that, please have them email Carole at cat@bigcatrescue.org

 Quick Links

As per viewer suggestions, Quick Links now has it’s very own page http://bigcatrescue.org/quick-links/

Bookmarking it will help you find things quickly.  That will come in handy for:

• Helping us answer questions on social media
• Finding answers to some of Carole’s Facebook Live questions