A Surprise Visit from the Grizzlies!

Even with the cold weather the past few days, our Grizzly bears have decided to come out of "hibernation" for a visit! The four have them, Papa, George, Willie, and Wendy, have been snuggled together in a cave we built for them for over a month. They have popped their heads out to get some fresh air a few times on particularly warm days, but none of us expected to see them out in this frigid air! Even still, Willie came wandering out first and sat at his icy water trough for a drink. He was followed by Wendy, who took the opportunity to play with some ice chunks that she broke off of the snow piles in their habitat! Papa and Willie were intrigued by her jumping around and came out next to investigate. It was nice to see them but it didn't take long for the cold to make them wander back into their warm cave together! Just like the Black bears, they had pine tree branches and hay that they brought into the cave. They both make for great denning material! We are looking forward to the spring for sure. It will be nice to the see the Grizzlies' faces more often!

February brings in the cold!

So far, February has been a bit of a challenge! We woke up yesterday morning to find 3 inches of ice and snow with some strong winds blowing it everywhere! The whole Sanctuary was cold and white but the animals were ready to eat first thing as usual! We had to walk the pans of meat to most of the houses, though we were able to drive some roads in the Sanctuary. We used a torch to melt the ice and snow off of the frozen locks, pins, and gates. A feeding that normally takes about 20 minutes took over an hour and a half today! It was a long morning but the animals are all full, happy, and warm in their hay filled houses. Well, except the few who are full, happy, and playing out in the snow! Sabrina, a white Bengal tiger, was rolling in the snow and rubbing on her snow covered tire. She also managed to make a huge snowball with one of her big boomer balls by rolling all over her habitat. Nearby, Nakita, a bobcat, laid in the snow by her Christmas tree watching the birds at the feeder near her habitat.

We are preparing for the next few days, which will likely be as cold and challenging as this morning! We are ready to do whatever is necessary to make sure that the animals are all happy and content!

Big Cat Scratching Posts!

Everyone who has a cat at home knows they love a good scratching post. Here at IEAS, the big cats feel the same way. As we walk through their habitats, we see lots of scratch marks on trees and in the dirt. The lions and tigers will stand as tall as they can with their paws on a tree, clawing some big marks in the bark. This is not necessarily to keep their claws sharp! These markings are a lot like those you would see in the wild. The big cats have scent glands on their paws and use the marks as a territorial sign, claiming the area they are in as their own. This tree is in the habitat of Allie and Rasul, two white Bengal tigers. Allie (below) loves to scratch this particular tree!

Big cats also have scent glands on their cheeks, chins, between their toes, and at the base of their tails. They will frequently rub their cheeks and faces on the fences to mark the boundaries of their territory. Between this and scratching their trees, we see lots of markings happening in the habitats of these big felines!

Come visit the Sanctuary to learn more about these big cats! We offer conservation education tours every day at 11:00 and Saturdays at 11:00 & 3:00!

Our Last Set of Trees!

Well, most of the Christmas tree have been squashed, chewed, thrown around, and destroyed to the point of no return but we had just a few left to pass out to the animals! Just like the ones before them, these trees proved to be a GREAT piece of enrichment for the cats.

This time around, we gave the littlest trees to the littlest cats! Our bobcats, servals, and caracal had a blast! Unlike their their larger neighbors, they didn't dive to tear apart the trees. Instead, they realized that these trees and their little bristly needles made a perfect place for rubbing! Tassers, one of our oldest bobcats, in addition to lots of rubbing, did LOTS of drooling all over the tree! Baby and Cookie, Tassers' neighbors, pushed their faces through the branches! It was just like they had little combs scratching through their fur! Billy, the caracal, and Barbara, a serval had been watching closely as Tassers got his tree and then had a chance for their own. They laid down right next to it and stayed put, rubbing until we left.

Shauna, a lioness, was one of the big cats who got a tree in our last round. She is known for being a bit of a goofball and her personality certainly showed when we gave her this tree! Shauna laid upside down on the tree, scratching her head all over it. She tried continuously to pull the branches up over her face to rub on them. Check out the video below to see how funny she was!

We hope you have enjoyed watching the cats and bears playing with the trees as much as we have! We couldn't have imagined the trees being a bigger hit! The residents of IEAS loved them! One final THANKS to Rainbow Plant Sales and all of our supporters!

The Bears' Turn for Christmas Trees!

After the cats received their Christmas trees, we knew it was the bears’ turn! Now, they are much more used to trees; we all know they love to climb! So, instead of giving them full trees to climb on, we decided to cut off the branches for them to use as denning materials. This way, they could be warm AND have some Christmas decorations in their dens! When we piled the branches in the holding areas on both sides of Bear Orphanage, they each reacted a little differently. On one side, Scooter, Scamp, and Greta’s normal playfulness was amplified by the fun new branches! Scamp plopped himself down in the middle of the pile to play. He would pull the branches up onto himself and rub his face and belly all over them. At the same time, Greta was right next to him, rolling back and forth and pouncing from branch to branch, making sure to also pounce on Scamp and Scooter a time or two! Scooter spent most of his time walking around in the branches and playing with Greta. He really will take any opportunity for playtime! Check out the video below to see how much fun they had tumbling and pouncing in the branches!

On the other side of Bear Orphanage, Rascal was the first of the bears to see the branches. We piled them right next to the cave he was sleeping in. Once he smelled them, he wandered out and sniffed around. Probably because he had just woken up, Rascal realized these branches would be great for sleeping with. He picked a few up, one at a time, and dragged them backwards into his cave. Over the next few days, we saw that on both sides of the Orphanage, the bears had begun dragging the piles into their dens and caves! Turns out these thick, soft branches really do make great denning materials for them!

We are so happy that these donated trees have had such an impact on the cats and bears of IEAS! It’s an absolute joy to watch them have so much fun with them! Thanks again to Rainbow Plant Sales in Saginaw, TX and to ALL of our supporters! Come out and visit soon!

Say "cheese!"

Here at the Sanctuary, we know that many of our supporters don't have the chance to visit the animals often. We also know that many of you want the opportunity to stay updated on how the cats and bears are doing and what they are up to. Well, we are constantly taking pictures and videos of all of the animals so YOU can see just how wonderful they are! While we have lots of these photos and videos on our website (www.bigcat.org), we are taking additional steps to make it easy and fun for you to see what all the cats and bears are up to. We have created a flickr page, full of pictures (and videos soon!) that will constantly be added to. The pictures are separated into different sets so you can look at pictures of all of our lions, all of our bobcats, or all of our enrichment - all at once! So, go take a look and see what the cats and bears have been up to! Some of them seem to smile for the camera, like Papa here!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ieas

A January Christmas for the Cats!

Even though Christmas has passed for most of us, the residents of IEAS are just now enjoying the leftover Christmas trees. Now, all of our animals have trees in their habitats, but something about a new and different little evergreen tree certainly seems to set them off! Most of the trees we provided for the felines stood about two to three feet tall. This allowed the cats to pick them up, toss them in the air, and bat them around with their paws.

Some were surprisingly playful, like Noel, one of our Siberian tigers who tends to put on his tough face most of the time. Instead of watching us as we watched him, like he usually does, Noel dove right into his tree, shaking it around and chewing it up. In no time at all, he picked the tree up and playfully ran full speed into his house with the tree to play in private!

A few yards away, the triplets, Akbar, Kumar, and Arusha, couldn’t get enough of their trees. They sniffed, batted, and shook their trees all around, taking a moment every few minutes to pounce on each other. They were certainly excited at the new toy, as they usually do.

Zippy, unlike the others, got a Christmas tree that stood about seven feet tall. We knew Zippy would enjoy it; she never disappoints when we give her new enrichment items! This time was no different. Zippy pounced right on it. She would grab a branch and roll the whole tree towards her. When it rolled on her foot, she would take off running, as if the tree were attacking her. After a loop around her habitat, she always came back for more.

Kim and Karen, who always love a new toy, had a blast as they would walk away from the tree, then run right back and pounce on it. They chewed them up, shook them, put them in their water troughs, then placed them in their houses for safe keeping. Even days later they have been seen playing with the trees!

Their neighbor, Lexus, is a VERY majestic and proud lion. He didn’t let this stop him from having a blast with his tree. He shook it up and chewed it to bits! We found remnants of it scattered all over. See below for a before and after shot of Lexus’ tree – you’ll be able to tell just how much fun he had!

Some of our small felines also had some fun. Chrissy and Tricia, two of our bobcats, waited until late in the evening to explore their tree but once they smelled it, they had a great time rubbing, laying, and rolling all over it! One of our interns, Amanda, saw sap on their whiskers and got some great pictures of them loving their trees (below)! They seemed so happy to have the pine needles scratching and rubbing their backs and faces for them!

A HUGE thanks to Rainbow Plant Sales in Saginaw, TX, for donating all of their leftover trees! And thanks to ALL for your support!

Thanks to all who voted for us on CITGO's Fueling Good!

Thanks to each and every one of you who voted for us for CITGO’s Fueling Good Sweepstakes. Because you thought about our animals for a few moments each day, we have come in third place and won $1,000 worth of CITGO gas and a case of CITGO oil! The staff and residents of IEAS could not be more grateful for the care and support you have for us! Now, instead of spending that $1,000 on gas, we can put it towards furthering our efforts to make the lives of our animals safe, healthy, and happy. We never could have reached this goal on our own. We know that it has only happened because of YOU. Thank you so much for your support! You are each an important part of the lives of our felines and bears!

First Snow of the Year

Yesterday we had our first snow fall for 2011! The animals were not too thrilled first thing in the morning when it was raining, but once the snow started falling at lunch time, they were out having fun. Akbar, Arusha and Kumar were out playing in the snow, and Kimberly and Karen were actually playing in their pool! Now one would expect a snow leopard to thrive in this type of weather, but Katrina was not about to be out in the snow. She kept nice and dry in her cave under her water fall. It was only after the snow fall she ventured out to check on things. The bears were smarter and all stayed in their dens and caves during the storm. It wasn't until today that they came out to play. Nearly all the bears were out on the tour enjoying the cooler weather. There were a few that chose to stay warm and snug in their den. So, don't let the cooler weather keep you from enjoying these animals. Come out to see them on a tour!

Domino Enjoys his Ball

Domino has a little system in place on the days we clean his habitat. He watches as we clean his habitat and spray his enrichment items with a 50/50 bleach solution. Then, you can see his eyes light up when we go to raise his gate. At that point, he only has one thing on his mind...get to his red boomer ball. While raising his gate or rolling up his hose, one will hear a squeaking sound. Well that noise is Domino licking and rubbing his nose across his boomer ball. It's clockwork. He does this every time we clean, and it makes for good entertainment for those watching. You can come see Domino on a tour. Just call the office to set it up for 11am Monday-Friday, or come by Saturday at 11am or 3pm or Sundays at 11am. How often do you get to see a Jaguar rub his nose across a boomer ball?!

Please Vote!

I just want to remind everyone to vote for IEAS daily to help the Sanctuary win a $2,500 gas care! Right now we believe we are in 3rd place, but we are so close to winning the grand prize! It's so easy. Just take five minutes a day and go to www.fuelinggood.com. Click on the "Cast Your Vote" box in the upper right corner of the home page. You will have to register the first time, but after that, all you have to do is type in your email and vote. We are listed under the title "You Too Can Save a Life." You can just type in "IEAS" and "go" and we will pop up. This is an easy way for your to help the animals of IEAS without costing you dime. So please remember us the next few weeks. The contest ends January 4. Oh, and did I mention that each time you vote, you get a chance to win a $25 gas card for yourself? All you do is play a game after you vote and you may be a winner! Thank you all for your support this past year. We hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Years!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

The animals and Staff of IEAS would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! Earlier this week it really didn't feel like winter at all. However, now it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! The animals will be snug as bugs in their warm cozy houses for the next few days. There will be those few cats that love the water too much to let some cold weather keep them from having fun. Kim and Karen are two very playful tigers who love the water! A side note, we would like to remind everyone that in the spirit of the Holidays, the staff will be taking time off to be with family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so there will be no tours scheduled for those days. We do invite you all to bring your family out Sunday and anytime next week! Again...Happy Holidays!

Holiday Season

The Holiday season is upon, and we would like for you to remember the animals of IEAS during this time. With Christmas just a week away, I am sure all of you have your decorations up and your Christmas trees decorated full of presents underneath. Well, we would like to give you a gift idea for the animals of IEAS. When you take your live tree down, instead of putting it out with the trash, bring it by the Sanctuary. Old live Christmas trees make for an entertaining enrichment item for the bears. The grizzly bears will enjoying playing with them and tearing them up, while the black bears may make a den or a brush pile to sleep in. Now don't forget about the felines enjoying the trees. Akbar, Arusha and Kumar enjoy playing with old pine trees as well and have taken branches into their pool to play with. Kim and Karen we know will love playing with the trees as well. So please, if you would like to donate your live tree, just call us for directions!

New Interns Arrive at IEAS

The new interns have survived their first week at IEAS. We have girls from all over the U.S. that were chosen to participate in the Winter Internship. The girls from up North have brought the colder weather to Texas as the last few mornings have been near freezing. No matter how cold it is though, the girls have learned quite a bit during their first week at IEAS. Each of these interns have one goal in mind, to help care for exotic animals either through conservation education or zookeeping. IEAS is a good place to start to accomplish their goals. During the next three months, these interns will learn just what it takes to properly care for exotic feline and bears.

Help the Sanctuary win this Contest

The International Exotic Animal Sanctuary has entered another voting contest. This time the prize is a $2,500 gas card from CITGO. One may not think gasoline has important roll in our daily operations when in fact we use it every day. First impressions are always very important which is why we put just as much effort into maintaining the grounds as we do into caring for these magnificent animals. During the spring, summer and fall, the staff of IEAS has about 16 acres of land, not including the habitats, to care for. In addition, the sanctuary travels over 280 miles each week to pick up groceries that have been donated by our local grocers. While we are extremely grateful to have this produce donated, the Sanctuary still spends between $6,000 and $7,000 each year on gasoline. This is a way you can help...all you have to do is vote for us once a day until January 4,2011!

HOW TO VOTE: Just go to www.fuelinggood.com. Click on the "Cast Your Vote" box in the upper right corner of the home page. You will have to register the first time, but after that, all you have to do is type in your email and vote. We are listed under the title "You Too Can Save a Life." Yes, it's that easy!

PRIZES: We have a chance two win one of three prizes.
Grand Prize: $2,500 CITGO Gift Card and a case of CITGO Passenger Car Oil
First Prize: $1,500 CITGO Gift Card and a case of CITGO Passenger Car Oil
Second Prize: $1,000 CITGO Gift Card and a case of CITGO Passenger Car Oil

New Friends

Scooter, Scamp and Greta are now together enjoying their natural habitat! Scooter and Scamp acted as though they had been together for months. Greta was a little more apprehensive than Scooter. By the end of the day though, she warmed up to her new fiend. The other day, all three were playing in the meadow area together. They were tackling each other and rolling around in the long grass. Greta and Scooter have since been busy exploring their new home. I think they have climbed every tree in the area. They don’t just climbed the tree and hang out, but they are also scratching at the bark looking for bugs and eating what leaves are left on the trees. They are already exhibiting the natural behavior one would see in the wild. We know that these three bears will do great together, and we are so happy we could bring them together and give them the live they deserve. The kind of life where they can act like wild bears. We will be posting some new videos of Greta and Scooter on the website during the next week, so keep posted!

Greta and Scooter's Big Day

Greta and Scooter were moved to their new home to join Scamp in their own natural five-acre habitat. It was an exciting day for all involved. We were so happy to see these two youngsters enjoy their new home. With this kind of set up, they will be able to act like wild bears. With Scooter, not only did he have a happy childhood being raised and cared for by IEAS Staff, but now he will have a great adolescence and adulthood. Scooter and Greta were released into the holding area for the first few days to get adjusted to their new surroundings. This is when Scooter climbed his first tree. He did it with such confidence. He almost made it to the top, but instead, decided to come down and join Greta on the jungle gym. The first day, Scamp came over to check things out. Scooter, being the confident bear he is, went right over to the fence to check out his new roomy. The two got along great. They just sat there sniffing each other. Greta, on the other-hand, didn’t want anything to do with it. She found her spot on the jungle gym and settled in for a nap.

New Roommates!

This past week, Dakar, Meyote, Lucky and Lucy got three new roommates. Pixie, Rascal and Rowdy were moved over to join them in their natural five-acre habitat. The transition went very smoothly. The bears seem to be getting along. Pixie, Rowdy and Rascal are just trying to find their own spot to hang out. They have many different areas to choose from. However, they seem to be navigating towards where Dakar and Meyote hang out. They are not timid with these four year old bears. They will sit and watch each other for a while, but the younger bears eventually leave to give them their space. We are very happy with this successful transition. As for Scamp, he will be getting new roommates very soon as Greta and Scooter will eventually join him in the second five-acre habitat. We will keep you updated on their progress.

The Animals Thank You

The Staff and animals of IEAS would like to give a big Thank You to Rainbow Plant Sales in Saginaw, Texas. They were generous enough to donate their remaining pumpkin stash after Halloween. As mentioned before, all the animals enjoy the pumpkins. The bears enjoy eating them...it's a nice seasonal treat. While the felines enjoy playing with them...a good seasonal enrichment item. We have plenty of pumpkins for all to enjoy. It is with these generous donations that make it possible to give these animals the best quality of life possible in captivity....it's what they rightfully deserve. Thank you again for the donation.

It's Time for Hay!

Well it's getting time for hay. With the cooler mornings we felt it necessary to add hay to our smaller cats (bobcats, servals and caracals). Let me tell you, they are enjoying it. As soon as the hay was put into their house, the cats went straight over to check it out. This morning, every single bobcat, serval and caracal were snuggled in their warm, cozy house. Even during the afternoon, they will stay in their house. I think they like the feel of the hay and the cushion it adds. It won't be long until we are adding hay to all the animals of IEAS as Winter approaches.

Rainy Days

Well, the animals are enjoying some much needed rain. You would think on days like today, you would find the animals in their houses staying warm and dry. Well, not the tigers. Majority of the tigers are out walking around as if it was a nice sunny day. Akbar, Arusha, and Kumar stayed on their perch relaxing. Makeen and Noel are up walking around just checking things out while Sabrina is in her cave watching the rain come down. Our group of young tigers, Kimberly and Karen and Allie and Rasul are taking time to play in the rain like little kids. I guess it takes more than just a little rain to keep these guys in. If you didn't mind getting soaked to the bone, it is actually really cute to watch these guys have fun.

Shauna got a pumpkin today for enrichment. She loved it! As soon as they raised her house gate, she ran inside and grabbed it. Even though the pumpkin was the size of two put together, Shauna grabbed it with ease and ran around with it. It was as though she was showing off her prize. She eventually settled with it near her perch and just bit into it and rolled around with it. She would hide behind her tree and then jump out and pounce on it. After playing with it a bit longer, she carried it up on her perch and laid next to it. I think she was ready for a nap by then.

Minor Repairs

Well, we have been doing some minor repairs the past few days. First, Ron's favorite perch needed to be replaced. He loves lying on the perch every morning, but over time it just got to the point it needed to be fixed. So, Roy and Christi worked hard all last week to build him a new perch. This morning, that project was finally complete. Anyone can guess where Ron has spent the rest of the day.

Another repair being made is to the Grizzly pool. With the cooler weather comes cracks in the pools. So the Grizzlies have been supervising our progress on their pool. The interns and staff have been working hard these past two days to re-cement and mortar their pool again. Tomorrow all we have to do is rinse the pool and fill it. Then we just watch them enjoy their pool. For anyone who has seen them, these four bears LOVE their pool. With this beautiful fall weather, those who haven't visited the animals that call IEAS home, you should come out and see them.

Dakar and Lucky

Today Dakar and Lucky were enjoying the beautiful weather. They were in their meadow area of Bear Orphanage playing together. Lucky would start out on top of Dakar almost like putting him in a head lock, but then Dakar would duck under and poor Lucky would end up on his back. They were like two little kids wrestling. Meyote soon came to break up the fun. When she arrived, they all just sat there looking at each other. I think they enjoyed it more when it was just the boys.

Pumpkin Season is Here!

Tis the season for pumpkins! That means loads of fun for the felines and more to eat for the bears! The bears love pumpkin season as they enjoy trying to break them open to see what's inside. They love the pumpkins seeds, and eat them one by one. The felines enjoy playing with the pumpkins; it's a new enrichment item for them to play with. Some cats will roll them around and bat at them while others will shred them to pieces. When they shred them, it's usually in their pool which makes it fun for us to clean up.....not really, but we do enjoy watching them have fun. That is the entertaining part. So, if you have any old pumpkins you would like to donate to the animals of IEAS, please let us know. We would be happy to take them. The animals really enjoy them every fall, and it is something for them to look forward to during this season.