May 11 2017

Big Cat Updates

Zeus Tiger has been moved to “outback” next to Joseph Lion. So far so good. Joseph is only mildly interested in him, and Zeus acts like he hasn’t even noticed Joseph yet.

That freed up space for Hoover Tiger to have two enclosures. He’s now in between Kali Tiger (across the tour path) and Jasmine Tiger.

Big Cat Cams Update

New webcam installations are going well. Bobcat Rehab is done and we are just finalizing all of the coordination to bring the cameras online. Nova is in the next cage over, and we have to install feeding tunnels before moving her into the cage with the camera, but you may be able to catch glimpses of her through the wire, when they bring that webcam back online. Be watching for it at explore which will be running highlights of past rehab bobcats until it goes live.

Next up today TJ, at Bexel, will be installing a newer, nicer webcam at Tiger Lake. No tigers there right now, but you can watch the work crew getting the area renovated if explore decides that is entertaining enough.

Facebook Live Video Replays

Today’s FB question of the day will be:

Question: What was the typo failure in the above video?

First person, who has never won before, to get it right over at BigCatRescue.win gets their choice of a Day Tour pass to Big Cat Rescue (valued at 36.00) or any one item from either BigCatRescue.biz or CatRescue.biz valued up to $36.

Projects

Projects today are moving cats around, adding top soil in cages for the grass to have a better footing, prepping the stainless steel panels for Tiger Lake, painting, raking and general cage maintenance.

Top Soil: There is a new pile of what appears to be dirt over by Ginger. It is top soil to be spread into the cages that have a root nest on the ground instead of dirt which prohibits the grass seed from growing. So before we can spread the seed we will be bringing the topsoil into the enclosures first then tossing seed around.

The cats sure enjoy rolling around of the soft grass which makes all the hard work moving top soil into the enclosures worth it.

People Often Ask

People Often Ask: Do big cats get fleas?

Answer: They would if we did not provide regular flea prevention and keep the grounds clean.

This video is six years old but still shows you how we prevent the cats here from having fleas.

CatRescue.biz

Foster Kitten Program

Kittens are still getting over the sniffles. The Puma Pad Intern House will soon be open, which will mean we can rescue another foster kitten family.

Josie, Jasper and Janna have all gone to furrever homes!

Janna went to the people who originally found her, but couldn’t keep both her and the kittens.

Thought you’d all enjoy this picture of Jasper, now T’Challa, sitting on one of his new people.

Big Cat Models

Tia Perez is looking down right adorable in her Tiger Rhinestone Shirt.

Get yours at:

Cooking Big Cat Style

The book is progressing along quite well. THANK YOU to EVERYONE who submitted recipes.

About 370 recipes are in the whole book, 555 pages, so far. There are a ton of photos of the cats already in and more to go. Because of the sheer size of the book we are breaking it down into smaller sections.

The following booklets are being proofreadand covers made, now.

ONE: Cooking Big Cat Style, Breakfast

41 pages
17 recipes
Photos of: JoJo, Anasazi, Nikita, Will, Aspen, Joseph, Jade, Cameron, Zabu, & Keisha

TWO: Cooking Big Cat Style, Breads, Buns, & Muffins

43 pages
16 recipes
Photos of: Amanda, Andre, Zabu, Ares, Arthur, Cameron, Mac, Orion, Reise, and TJ

THREE: Cooking Big Cat Style, Cakes Cupcakes, & Brownies

66 pages
30 recipes
Photos of: Armani, Arthur, Anasazi, Andi. Ariel, Apollo, Jade, Zabu, Will, Tonga, Joseph, & JoJo

Currently plans are to offer the books in three digital formats:

iBooks on iTunes
Kindle on Amazon
PDF on CatRescue.biz

Dilemma in offering Printed Books

We have looked into offering printed versions. I have spent a ton of time getting quotes etc. To have the books printed in color as an 8.5″ x 11″ by a Print On Demand service, (in other words have them printed as people order them) the price for each of the three small books above would run $12.99 to $14.99, plus shipping. I feel that is just too high and it would only make the cats $1.64 profit per book.

Question to Viewers: Regarding the printed versions, what do YOU think?

BCR Website Updates

Question to Viewers: How many of you use Feed Burner?

S.A.V.E. Award

Scratch’s Award for Volunteer Excellence, the SAVE Award

For outstanding volunteer service, the May 2016 SAVE Award goes to Jocelyn Gardner! Jocelyn is a hard worker, responsible, reliable and fun to work with! Thank you so much and congratulations!

A donation of $1000 has been made in your honor to the Felidae Conservation Fund to fund the ongoing research needed to conserve Jaguarundi along the border between the US and Mexico.

The Jaguarundi species distribution in the borderlands of Northern Mexico. Southern Texas and Southern Arizona is currently unknown. There is debate regarding recent unconfirmed observations and sightings. The last confirmed sighting in the United States was in April 1986 of a road-killed Jaguarundi. Additionally, while the IUCN status is “Least Concern”, the Jaguarundi’s Texas Status is listed as Endangered by the Texas Parks and Wildlife. This research project will examine Jaguarundi distribution in the USA-Mexico Borderlands (National Park Service lands), with the objective to address the gap in information of Jaguarundi presence in Northern Mexico, Southern Arizona and Southern Texas. The project will also examine habitat use in relation to competition with other felid species and habitat loss resulting from human conversion to mixed-use landscapes. Specifically, this research will determine how the competition with other species affects Jaguarundi distribution, activity patterns, and habitat use.

Additionally, we will evaluate how the Jaguarundi is adapting to habitat loss and the conversion of habitat to mixed-use landscapes. Lastly, since the Jaguarundi has a single-color pelage, it has not been subjected to the persecution from the fur trade like many of the spotted felid species. However, human-wildlife conflict relating to retaliation for taking small livestock has been documented and is important to evaluate and mitigate in the Borderlands region.

The Project will utilize remote camera technology to yield a thorough evaluation of the species’ distribution in the USA-Mexico Borderlands to answer the unresolved question of the presence or absence in this area. Remote cameras will be placed systematically in adjacent 1 km by 1 km grid cell arrays. The project will also utilize Global Positioning System (GPS) collars to determine home range size and habitat use by individuals by acquiring coordinates at 2-4 hour intervals.

Note To Viewers: Do you still want to see the rest of the S.A.V.E. Awards for 2016, or are you tied of seeing them?

Viewer Videos From Explore.org/bigcatrescue

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

Jamie Veronica: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsY6X3rUv8UlIUbrxNeu-Aw
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
Janie M https://www.youtube.com/user/donutgirl100
Jaime T: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsY_oF0NhXc5OS8CcTaUi2A/videos

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