Some of my new friends

[Earthdog]

Awesome Saz [img]smile.gif[/img]

Looks like Dominos experssion says "Dont be reachin for my french fries foo!!!"

And Ceasar looks to be saying "Youre Crazy!! Theres no damn way the Cowboys are gonna win more than 5 games this year."

Beautiful animals Saz

Do they let ya scratch em behind the ears?

[Dundee Slaytern]

Oh man, that is so cool! It is not everyday you get the opportunity to get up, close and personal on a friendly level with the big cats. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Fuzzy!

[Lord of Alcohol]

Wow Saz! Thats great! I really liked your descriptions , also I hope you show us more of the "big cats" and their stories. It would be really cool working around them, even if you have to scrape up poop

[Sazerac]

Thanks for your replies everyone! Yes, we're both very excited about being able to volunteer at the center. I'll probably be doing 1 or two Saturdays each month; I'm not sure what my wife is committing to just yet.

They are beautiful creatures, but one thing the sanctuary board hammers at us constantly is the reminder that they are indeed wild animals, and no matter how friendly they seem, can turn on you in a split second. There are signs on every house that say "Locate the Cat!", "Think", "Be Prepared", etc. Each volunteer has a two-way radio unit (what we call a "walkie-talkie") that they can immediately use in case of emergency, like should one of the big guys get out. To date, though, there have been no escapes and no problems. The cats, for the most part, are tolerant of the human interactions, and a lot of them are interested and do interact with the humans as well. 3 days out of the week, an exotic animal behaviorist comes up to work with the cats, and to train the volunteers to recognize certain "signs" the cats may be making...what we may take as a cute or quaint behaviorism might be an act of aggression...the cat's "last warning" it would give before launching an attack. He also trains volunteers on how to interact safely with the cats.

What I find so fascinating is the diversity of personalities each of the cats exhibit. Onyx, for example, is so laid-back; he'd be a "couch potato" in real life. Ceasar, on the other hand, is extremely mischevious and playful. Tigers love to get into the water, and often Ceasar will hide in his pool with only his eyes above the water when he sees people coming, then when they get right in front of his cage, will leap out, splashing everyone and "chuffing." One gets the idea that the rogue is laughing about having pulled on over on the humans! [img]graemlins/laugh2.gif[/img]

Interestingly enough, I've found that the smaller cats, such as the Caracal (Tatu) and some of the jungle cats are far more aggressive than the big guys.

I will post more photos up here as I get them, and keep everyone up to date as to what's going on. For those of you near the area, we'd love for you to come by and take the tour. If you do, make sure you take the evening tour (6 pm) as it's the one that almost all the kitties are awake, alert, and active. You also get to hear the lions do what they call the "evening song"; which is their mutual roaring throughout the park. The tour takes around 2 1/2 hours, in which you get to meet all 68 cats and spend quite some time at each enclosure.

One of the things I'm going to be working with is trying to get legislation passed to make it illegal to buy and sell exotic felines in the state of Texas. Currently, there are no state laws prohibiting it, and it's apparently quite easy for some yayhoo in a dorm room to call up a breeder and purchase a cougar cub, for instance, for $300. (You wouldn't believe how many cougars came from university dorm rooms. It boggles my mind as to how they hid them from the RA's! [img]graemlins/uhoh1.gif[/img] What were those idiots thinking?) A lot of the felines also come to the sanctuary after having been confiscated in drug raids. Drug lords seem to like to keep tigers around their property; interestingly enough because the odor of the tiger's urine masks the smell of the cooking drugs (methamphetamine, I've been told, is generally the drug of manufacture in North Texas).

Anyway, thanks for all your great support! Melusine, I'll see about getting some of the pictures up to Stealthy's. Wolfgir, I'd love to find a wolf or wild canine sanctuary in Texas, and I'm sure there must be one somewhere. Earthdog: Oh, heavens, no! LOL but if we get good at what we do, we may be allowed to "flat hand" them (place our hands flat against the bars of the cage and let them pet us).

Oh, for all who asked: Ceasar has a pumpkin there (that picture was actually taken last fall by one of the other volunteers). I am told that the pumpkin actually lasted probably about three minutes longer after the photo was taken, but he had fun with it while it did!

Cheers, and thanks,
-Sazerac

[ 07-04-2002, 01:58 PM: Message edited by: Sazerac ]

[Epona]

Great stuff Paris!
I don't understand why anyone would be stupid enough to keep a big cat, they are NOT domesticated, they are wild animals! OK I keep exotics - parrots - which are also not a domestic animal but even a really severe bite could only take off a finger at worst.

Please though, make sure that any legislation you campaign for distinguishes between dangerous and non-dangerous animals, much of the proposed legislation in many states would also mean that parrot owners like me have their beloved, captive-bred, and completely harmless pets confiscated and euthanised.

[Sazerac]

Originally posted by Epona: Great stuff Paris! I don't understand why anyone would be stupid enough to keep a big cat, they are NOT domesticated, they are wild animals! OK I keep exotics - parrots - which are also not a domestic animal but even a really severe bite could only take off a finger at worst. Please though, make sure that any legislation you campaign for distinguishes between dangerous and non-dangerous animals, much of the proposed legislation in many states would also mean that parrot owners like me have their beloved, captive-bred, and completely harmless pets confiscated and euthanised.

No, Epona...what we would be legislating for would be the outlaw of new sales, not existing pets. All existing owned animals would be "grandfathered"...at least, that's the legislation that they're proposing. And, as you say, it is strictly for the larger wild animals, such as the big cats, not parrots or other exotic birds or other harmless exotics, such as iguanas.

Another possibility is not necessarily banning the sale of exotic felines, but making it EXTREMELY difficult to be able to obtain them...for example, a six-month waiting period, demonstration of financial responsibility, showing that you have an enclosure for them, and having to apply for a license with an appropriate background check, etc. Banning may lead to a black market, and that could hurt the animals worse in the long run.

Something, however, needs to be done. When some 18-year-old college student with too much money at their disposal can merely call up someone and have a cougar or tiger cub delivered to their dorm room that very day...something has to change. It's simply too easy to obtain one under the present system, at least in Texas. FOr example, it is estimated that there are over 2,000 tigers in non-zoo captivity in the state of Texas alone...that's about half as many as exist in the wild today!

-Sazerac

[WillowIX]

How would that affect me Saz? A dragon for mother (they´re quit rare aren´t they, lol) and a bear for ahubby, lol... No but seriously, keep up the good work. And if you need people to sign lists or anything I think you know were to look, lol.

__________________
Confuzzled by nature.

[Donut]

Great post Saz! (Welcome back BTW)

[Earthdog]

Saz, theres a guy in Grand Prairie who owns a pawn shop on Jefferson street. He's had a chimp in his shop for years. The stench of the cage hits you about 20 feet from the door. Its disgusting. I made the mistake of walking in there once not knowing about the chimp. A couple years later a friend needed a ride so Itook him down to Jefferson. Then he decides to go into that shop to see if the guy had any decent guitars for sale. He didnt but I swore I would never set foot in that place again. The smell is worse than the primate section of the Dallas Zoo.

WThe City of Grand Prairie passed ordinaces to prohibit the possession of large exotic animals. They wanted that chimp gone. Unfortunately the old b*st*rd that owns the pawn shop was protected by the "Grandfather Clause." They couldnt make him get rid of it but they made sure he cant ever get another one.

From what Ive heard the old pr*ck is pretty mean to that chimp and in response it throws dung at him regularly. I think he needs more than dung thrown at him.

[WillowIX]

Eehhm Saz, now I don´t mean to demaen your work. It´s an excellent commitment! If more people did that this place (Earth not this forum perhaps) would be a lot better. But there´s a lot of people in the W&W forum that needs to be taken care of as well... By that I mean; Will there be any more Gael Serran Examiners?? We all LOVE them!