A Foxy Friend for the Black Bears!

Well, we have a new resident in Bear Orphanage, but not an intentional one! We always tell people how natural a habitat the Orphanage is for the bears of IEAS. So natural, in fact, that small wild animals wander in and out of the 10 acre enclosure through the fences. Recently, a fox has taken up residence in, of all places, a TREE in Bear Orphanage. At first, we were under the impression that the little guy was stuck in the tree, but after managing to get him down, we found him perched up in the branches again! He seems to come and go as he pleases.

The arrival of this little resident

just confirms to us that

Bear Orphanage can help

make our bears live

as they would in the wild,

because wild animals feel that way!

Trailer O' Pumpkins!

And it begins! We picked up a big trailer and two truck beds full of leftover pumpkins today from Rainbow Plant Sales in Saginaw, TX. Don't worry, they're not going to waste! These promise to be some of the best used pumpkins ever. Get excited! We certainly are!!

The next week or so should be full of pictures and videos of pumpkins being tossed around, torn apart, and eaten up, so stay tuned!

THANK YOU SO MUCH

RAINBOW PLANT SALES

for thinking of IEAS with

your leftover pumpkins!

You have some very

grateful cats and bears!

A Field Trip for the Interns!

Last night, a few of our interns made a trip out to the Frank Buck Zoo (FBZ), in Gainesville, TX, to help out at their Zoo Boo! The FBZ keepers are members of the Red River Chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers, alongside the Sanctuary's keepers, so IEAS likes to support them in any way we can!

Betsy, Jennifer, Megan, and Amber, all dressed up in Halloween costumes, and drove to the zoo where they helped hand out candy and answered questions about the zoo and animals from the curious kids who were having a blast at the zoo.

The interns had a great time

as well and we were glad they

got to be a part of the FBZ's event!

One of the MANY things that make it all worth it!

We wanted to share with you all one of the MANY things that make our job 100% worth all of the time, hard work, and effort. After a school presentation about the Sanctuary, we received these notes, among many others from the students:

It's little things like this that mean the world to us! Our Education Program was designed and created with the hopes of teaching children (and adults alike) about how important these and all other animals are. Knowing that we helped these students is so amazing!

While we do often give presentations at schools, you, your kids, grandkids, and friends, can learn and experience even more at the Sanctuary! On tours, seeing these animals first hand can be a truly life changing experience, so plan your visit. You won't regret it!

Baby & Cookie Get a New Toy!

Baby and Cookie got a new toy! Well, it's more of a place to lounge for them than a toy! Nevertheless, Baby and Cookie got a one of the same wooden spools that we have given to Titan and the Grizzly bears, just a smaller version! They didn't do much at first. In fact, Baby didn't even come over to investigate right away, but Cookie was very quick to decide it was hers. She sniffed it, she marked it, and that was that!

It was confirmed that both she and Baby enjoyed the new perch, as we spotted them lounging on it on separate occasions that afternoon!

FINALLY Photos of the 2 New Cubs!

Well, here they are!

Introducing the two

newest residents of IEAS!

The cougar cub has been settling in so well! He's very young and was very nervous upon his arrival. Using our Emotional Enrichment Program, staff members have been spending time with this little guy and he has come trust us so much more already! It will be some time before he is 100% comfortable but he is making huge strides. He eats, falls asleep, and

plays while we are there - all signs of comfort and trust! Speaking of eating, this little boy has quite the appetite and really enjoys his meals. He has been playing in his water, all over his hay, and with all of his new toys! Stay tuned for some more pictures (and hopefully videos)!

The bear cub is a bit more shy than

his cougar friend. He has been spending a lot of time in his hay filled house, relaxing and sleeping, but he definitely enjoys his toys and his habitat! He has been having lots of fun in his tubs and water troughs, sitting and splashing around in the cool water. He's been loving the fresh produce and peanuts that we've been feeding him - we keep finding his bowl completely empty and him ready for more! Once he is more comfortable with us, we will definitely have more photos and videos for all of you to enjoy!

STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES ON THESE ADORABLE CUBS!

The Transition into Fall!

Well, we can tell fall is coming! The leaves are falling and the pools are needing a good skimming all the time! The weather is certainly keeping us on our toes these past few weeks as the seasons change. We've been spotted layering up in the mornings but still sporting our tank tops and shorts in the hot afternoons. The cats and bears are ready for the cooler weather, as they are fully embracing any opportunities to be lounging on their favorite perches in the sun, with the cool breeze keeping them comfortable.

Many of our previous tour-goers can tell you that fall is a PERFECT time to come out and visit the IEAS animals. With the more manageable temperatures, the activity levels certainly increase! Now, that's not to say that some of the felines may be snoozing when your tour goes by (they do sleep up to 18 hours a day afterall - that's a lot of sleeping to squeeze in to one day!), but fall tours often find the big cats up and about, eager for a visit with friendly faces, and chuffing up a storm to say hi!

If you've been thinking about heading out for a tour, now is the time! Tours are offered every day at 11:00 AM and Saturdays at 3:00 PM also!

See you soon!

EXCLUSIVE Chance to win $10,000!

Calling ALL Friends and Supporters of IEAS:

The first two weeks of October are going to be very important ones for us here at the Sanctuary!

Because we support Albertsons through their Community Partners program, we have an exclusive chance to earn a grant worth $10,000!

PLEASE help the animals of the International Exotic Animal Sanctuary!

HERE'S HOW:

1. Go to albertsonscpchallenge.com and login, by entering your e-mail address.

2. If this is your first time to the site, you will be taken to the e-mail verification page.

3. Once your e-mail is verified, you can login and vote using just your e-mail.

4. Enter CHARITY CODE #0194 in the upper left hand corner, then click GO.

5. When you see our entry, click on VOTE!

You can vote up to FIVE TIME PER DAY from October 1st through October 15th!

Don't worry - we'll send reminders ;)

Please SPREAD THE WORD to your family, friends, and co-workers!

THANKS so much - we hope the cats and bears here at IEAS can rely on your help!

New Houses and Pools!

You would be hard pressed to find a time in the past few months when Roy, our Maintenance Supervisor, and Richard, Director, haven't been welding, cutting, attaching, fixing, and rebuilding twenty year old houses for the feline residents of IEAS alongside dedicated volunteers and community service individuals. The new houses will have improved safety features for both the protection of the cats, and the safety of the staff. Khera's has just been finished, Kimberly's is in the works, and we have three more lined up! It is our HOPE that soon, Karen, and our new tigers, Danvir and Sajani, will have spacious and comfortable new houses to relax in! We are also hoping to enlarge Danvir and Sajani's pool, so they can comfortably enjoy it together. To change these hopes into reality, we need your help!

These three houses and one pool will cost us about $10,000 in materials total. Luckily, we have some great volunteers who have promised to help us build the houses so the labor will be free, though we may reward them with some donuts in the mornings! A big thanks to Billy, George, and Matt for their assistance in helping to build the last few houses! We also want to thank the community service department in Decatur, TX for allowing individuals to complete their community service hours by working them off at IEAS. In the past year, over 6,000 hours of community service have been completed here, and the free labor they have done has been immensely helpful!

We will be setting up a thermometer so you can all stay updated on how close we are to reaching our goal. We understand that this letter falls on difficult times for everyone, but remember, every dollar counts! Do what you can and we can promise you that the cats whose lives YOU helped change, will be grateful for what you have given!

Click HERE to DONATE or call 940-433-5091!

Who doesn't love a WILD present!?

With the holidays just a few months away, we decided to help you with your shopping! We know that many of you have come to know and love the animals here at IEAS. Whether it be through your visits to the Sanctuary or by reading about them on the website, you have come to care for these magnificent animals. Why not take this opportunity to receive a spectacular, black and white drawing of your favorite animal. Nissa Marione, the Education Coordinator at IEAS, is probably the most talented artist we have ever had come through our intern program. Nissa would like to donate her time and talents to provide you with an amazing 8x10 drawing of your favorite animal. To our many adoptive parents, this is a wonderful opportunity to receive a unique drawing of your adopted animal! All proceeds will go strictly to the Intern Program here at the Sanctuary. Check out the photo and illustration below to see just how talented Nissa is!

Nissa Marione completed our Intern Program during the summer of 2010. Her hard work, determination and love for these animals earned her a full time position at the Sanctuary. Nissa has become part of the IEAS Staff and is the Education Coordinator responsible for giving School Presentations and guided tours.

Nissa would like to ask for a donation of $200 for each portrait and $250 for each full body sketch she does. If you are interested in this special opportunity, please contact our office at 940-433-5091 or you can email us at richard@bigcat.org. Don't let this unique chance pass you by! Call today and order your perfect holiday gift!

ANOTHER GREAT IDEA!

Is that a little outside your budget? How bout this - make your friend or family member the "Friend of a Feline" or "Buddy of a Bear" by purchasing a $40 gift packet from the IEAS gift store! This packet gives your gift recipient an 8 x 10 photo of their favorite IEAS animal, that animal's personal history, AND a FREE PASS to come to the International Exotic Animal Sanctuary and visit their new Feline Friend or Bear Buddy! This gives them the chance to spend one-on-one quality time with an EXOTIC new friend (from outside the habitat, of course)! What better gift is there!?

Don't leave the holiday shopping until the last minute!

Visit IEAS NOW to make your purchases!

(Feel free to pick something up for yourself as well!)

Watch Them Work!

Here are some pictures of the interns, hard at work, helping us with projects all over the Sanctuary!

AMBER - Skimming out the big pool! Fall will bring lots of leaves!

BETSY - Getting ready to scrub and sanitize!

JENNIFER - Learning how to work with mortar!

MEGAN - Cleaning out Duke's pool!

TARA - Helping rebuild a waterfall!

ALEX - Fixing some cracks that are causing a leaky pool!

Stay tuned to see what our interns are up to this session!

Garden Buckets Galore!

Well, we've finally accepted that we need new garden buckets! We've been hanging on to our current six for quite some time but we have realized that the condition they are in is just too...rough. Most have either no handles or broken ones, and half have giant cracks and holes in the bottoms and sides. This makes them slightly less functional and the lack of handles DEFINITELY makes them harder to carry...

If YOU have any of these garden buckets around (that might be in better condition than our own), we'd love to take them off your hands! They would be a huge help to our staff and interns in getting our daily projects done - especially with fall arrivng, we'll have plenty of raked up leaves to fill these buckets!

THANKS!

Getting Back Into Our Routine!

Well, we are finally starting to get back into our normal routines here! After a few very understaffed weeks without interns, our new fall interns are here and ready to learn!

Amber, Betsy, Alex, Megan, Jennifer, and Tara have had their first few days here at IEAS and have already taken in HUGE amounts of information. The keepers are finally getting the chance to catch everyone back up on the Blog, YouTube, and all that fun stuff. Keep an eye out for all our new posts and think good thoughts for our new interns, who will be very tired and full of information at the end of their training!

Drawing Contest!

Do YOU love to draw!? Well, if you're 17 or younger, we have a contest for you! Draw, paint, sketch, doodle a picture of a big cat or bear and you could win a free tour and have a visit with your favorite Sanctuary animal! Second and third place winners will also win a prize!

This contest will take place throughout the month of September so if you'd like to submit a picture, make sure it's here by September 30!

HERE ARE THE DETAILS!

There will be THREE AGE GROUPS (with a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner from each group)

Ages 7-10

Ages 11-14

Ages 15-18

1st Prize: An 8x10 photo, a free tour voucher (for you and your family), and a one-on-one visit with your favorite IEAS animal!

2nd Prize: An 8x10 photo and free tour voucher (for you and your family)!

3rd Prize: An 8x10 photo of your favorite animal at IEAS!

Send your finished drawing to:

International Exotic Animal Sanctuary

Attn: Drawing Contest

P.O. Box 637

Boyd, TX 76023

Or e-mail them to:

iefsedu@aol.com

(You can also drop your entries off at the IEAS gift shop if you live nearby!)

*When you send your drawing, be sure to include a note indicating your NAME, AGE, BIRTHDAY, and FAVORITE IEAS CAT or BEAR!*

Winning entries will hang in the IEAS gift shop!

SURPRISE!

Meet the two newest

members of the IEAS family!

These two tigers were brought to IEAS from San Antonio, TX, after the facility they lived at was forced to close due to insufficient funds needed for caring for its residents. It is amazing how well the two Bengal tigers have settled in. The male is currently lounging in his pool, where he has been staying cool all morning! His female companion is slightly more timid. She lays near her friend, watching and taking in all of her surroundings! Less than one day into their new lives, we have already been lucky enough to get a few chuffs and visits with these two special tigers. We are so happy to be giving them a new permanent home and look forward to giving them a highest quality of life possible in captivity!

To help IEAS give these

amazing tigers a new life,

DONATE by clicking HERE!

It is supporters like YOU that help

make rescues like this possible!

Thank you all for what you do!

CHECK OUT WHAT WE GOT IN THE MAIL TODAY!

So, remember our "Tours for Troops" event? We collected nine big boxes worth of goodies to send to the troops overseas, and then, we sent them on their way! It's been almost 3 weeks since we sent the care packages and check out what we got in the mail today!

We're so happy that these Rangers loved

the packages & their thanks means a lot!

THANK YOU to everyone who came &

donated goodies for the care packages!

We are so proud that all of you wanted

to help us and be a part of recognizing

the amazing troops we have over seas!

Pepsi Pepsi Pepsi!

Well, another shot at the Pepsi Refresh Project left us in 56th place in our category. This may not seem too impressive, but if you recall, our first attempt landed us in 110th place. We finished SO much higher this time. We can't believe how much more support this means we got in only the course of a MONTH. It seems like many more of you wonderful people were taking a few minutes every day to think about the animals living here at IEAS and we can't thank you enough for it.

This increasing sign of care and love for these truly amazing animals means SO much. The International Exotic Animal Sanctuary couldn't give these magnificent big cats and bears a second chance at life without people like YOU! Your help truly makes what we do possible, so THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR AMAZING SUPPORT!