In the Path of a Hurricane

The thoughts and prayers of everyone here at the International Exotic Animal Sanctuary go out to all of those in the path of Hurricane Sandy. We hope that all those affected by the storm - whether they are two legged, four legged, scaly, or furry - stay safe and out of harm's way.

It is times like these that we are reminded of one of our own. Six years ago, one of the IEAS tigers, Zippy, was abandoned during Hurricane Ike and forced to attempt to ride out the storm. Incredibly, she made it through, no worse for the wear, and we pray you all make it through with the same health and perseverance as Zippy!

Pumpkins from New Tech High School!

IEAS would like to send out a huge THANK YOU to Siena Billups and the students from New Tech High School who took initiative and organized a Pumpkin Drive for the animals of IEAS! These students were able to collect almost 50 pumpkins for the bears and cats here at the Sanctuary. 

These pumpkins will be used as enrichment items for the IEAS residents, who are always more than eager to chew up or tear apart their new orange toys. Stay tuned for pictures and videos of the animals enjoying their seasonal treats!

Thanks again to Siena and New Tech High School!

Your efforts will make the animals at IEAS very happy!

Order Your One of a Kind IEAS Drawing Now!

With the holidays right around the corner, NOW is the time to order your one of a kind drawing of an IEAS resident for your family member or friend (or for YOU, of course)!

Nissa Marione, Lead Keeper and Education Coordinator at IEAS, would love to donate her time and talents to provide you with an amazing 8 x 10 drawing of your favorite animal. It's such a wonderful chance to honor your favorite animal in a unique way, and too our many adoptive parents, this is a wonderful opportunity to receive a unique drawing of your adopted animal. All proceeds will go directly to the IEAS animals!

 Nissa would like to ask for a donation of $200 for each portrait and $250 for each full body drawing that she does. Remember, all proceed collected will directly benefit the IEAS animals, so you won't just be purchasing a drawing, you'll be bettering the lives of the rescued animals living at the Sanctuary!

If you are interested in this special opportunity, please contact our office at 940-433-5091 or e-mail us at richard@bigcat.org. Remember, order NOW to ensure that you get your drawing by the holiday season!

Fall at IEAS

Here at IEAS, we have more indicators that fall is on the way than just the weather, and the appearance of some of these clues has let us know that the seasons are definitely changing!

One of the first things we see is a change in appetite for the bears. When they know fall is on the way (which is usually before we can tell), the bears will start storing up for winter. Even the black bears here at IEAS will tuck away in the winter time to sleep, only popping out on occasion, so having lots of energy stored up helps them get comfortably through the chilly season when there food intake decreases dramatically.

Something else we've noticed is that as we clean the animals' pools, we are skimming more and more leaves out all the time! We've also been doing lots of raking to keep up with the leaves that are already starting to fall.

We've added hay to a number of the animals' houses already, and soon, we'll be adding hay to the rest! This means it is almost time to switch to our "winter schedule," during which we have slight changes to our pick-up and house cleaning routines.

Regardless of our routine changes, tours are always an option! Many of our previous tour guests can tell you that fall is a wonderful time to come out and take that tour you've been considering. With the cooler weather, more of the animals are out and about, no longer needing to find a shady spot to hide from the sun and heat. Often times, they'll be up and active, or lounging on their favorite perch in the sun!

We hope to see you at IEAS this fall!

October Means...

PUMPKINS! It's that time again. Every year, we have several types of seasonal enrichment that are handed out the animals of IEAS who are always anxiously awaiting the new toys. October means it is time for pumpkins! We have already begun to receive pumpkins in our daily produce run from local grocers, and there are several stores in the area that are always happy to donate their leftover pumpkins to the cats (who play with them) and the bears (who eat them). Still, we are always looking for more. For this reason, we are calling on YOU!

Last fall, a number of people generously bought an extra pumpkin or two and brought it to IEAS for the animals. Others waited until just after the holiday season and brought us that pumpkin that made their holiday special! Either way, we were more than happy to accept them and the animals were even happier to receive them as enrichment! 

To find out more about these pumpkins and why they make such good enrichment items, check out our most recent NEWS story, here.