Every Tiger Has Something To Teach. Thanks, April.

“April is kind of a bad cat.”

That’s what I was told early on by someone who had worked around April for years. And it was true. April was not a nice tiger. Though boy howdy, was she a pretty cat, and she knew it. Of all the cats I’ve worked with here, April is the one I least wanted to find out they’d learned to teleport through their enclosure wall and meet face to face with nothing between us. Fortunately, she never figured out a way. She did, however, watch the edge of her enclosure like a hawk, and prowled it like, well, a tiger. Just waiting for someone to stumble in the winter muck and fall against the chain link where she could hook them with her claws, or to get fingers in range, or drape the hose where she could grab it and kill it like the evil water-filled snake it was.

The thing is, it wasn’t April’s job to be nice. It was her job to be a tiger. She was the cat that reminded us continually, just in case we weren’t already sure of it, that we are here for them, not the other way around. Seeing her smug expression while she sat up on her box was enough proof of that; she loved watching us mow or do other landscaping work in her open area while she lounged.

April was our cranky old schoolteacher, the grouchy neighbor who almost never had anything nice to say. But like either of those, when she did give a positive reaction, it meant something. A chuff from April meant a lot. Her sister Star is a sweet tiger, but isn’t really interested in being social for more than a few moments. On the other hand, once I knew her, and she knew me, April would patiently sit down next to me while I read a book, or watched a video, or just enjoyed the evening breeze. I know there was always a part of her that hoped I’d lean against the fence or put something where she could reach it, but there was also a part of her that grudgingly wanted to be social. And forging that sort of bond with a cranky old apex predator is really something special. It has been a privilege to take care of her during her sunset years.

So thank you, April. I’m sorry I never fed you any of those fingers you wanted so badly, but I still need them to take care of your sister and the rest of your neighbors. I promise when we meet again, I’ll hold the hose for you so you can bite the water stream the way you like to.

Goodbye, April.

—Ren

Weather Event Damage

In the early morning hours of Sunday, October 27th the Wildlife Companions facility was battered by the most intense windstorm any of us has ever experienced.  The winds packed enough destructive power to take down two massive trees and destroy large sections of our outer fencing. In addition, the winds destroyed our barn, ripping the roof off just as we were rushing to get the goat herd that provides milk treats for our tigers out to the relative safety of the pasture. Buildings were damaged, equipment destroyed, but aside from some bumps and bruises, everyone (and all the goats) are okay.

Now for the good news: our tigers are safe, uninjured, and fully protected in their sturdy enclosures, which are designed to handle whatever nature throws our way; hence, there is no risk of escaped or injured animals.  However, we’re faced with the daunting challenge of fixing the fences, rebuilding our barn, and repairing or replacing damaged gear.  At this point we’re not even certain of the extent of our losses, but we’re assessing the situation as quickly as we can and will update you shortly.

For now, our priority is finding the funds to acquire material needed to replace and repair what we lost in the storm.  We’ve already received generous donations through our GoFundMe fundraiser started a few days ago.  We are already 30% of the way to our $10,000 goal! Can you help keep the momentum going?  If you want to contribute, you can donate at GoFundMe here.

or you can donate to us instantly via our website https://wildlifecompanions.org/donate.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for whatever you can do.

Wildlife Companions is a 501(c)3 registered public charity, all donations are tax deductible.

Tiger Day!

July 29th is International Tiger Day! The site hasn't been updated in a while, obviously, but we're going to celebrate anyway, because tigers are awesome. It's the best holiday you haven't heard about since Sysadmin Day. So, get out there and hug a tiger and toss a sysadmin a hunk of raw meat.

Strike that. Reverse it. This way please.

At any rate, I am taking this opportunity to appreciate the amazing nature of these creatures, our neighbors of the natural world who are really getting a rough go of things. Habitat loss and poaching are still a critical problem, and they've had recent issues with abuse in Thailand, all in the name of human entertainment of course. 

The fact is that if we don't work hard, there will be no tigers. Several breeds are gone, and all the rest are on the brink.

If nothing else, please consider taking a moment to think about what it means to share the world with animals like this. Spread the word. Donate what you can, be it time or money, or take a friend or relative to a zoo.

In the vein of donation, and in honor of Tiger Day, I want to do a blitz fundraiser for our retired animals. Two simple flavors: Fun and Functional.

Fun

While in general our cats like to mostly sleep, eat, and mess with their caretakers, we'd like to start working on more enrichment as part of our program. A simple starting spot is a toy. Tigers, as you might imagine, are rough on toys, so we want to get something sturdy that's rated for zoo animals. $240 buys (and ships) a sturdy 20" play ball from Boomer Ball.  We'll start with one and have everyone try it out for a week to see if they're interested in play, and get more if they seem to enjoy it.

Practical

Tigers certainly keep themselves clean, but their enclosures not so much. Sunlight and water means algae, exposed wood gets muddy in the winter and sometimes a bit moldy in the summer. We scrub everything away, but a pressure washer is really the right tool for the job. We're looking for $330 for a new unit from Costco (though if someone would like to donate a working pressure washer, we'd be happy to give it a good home!).

If you wish to help us with either or both of these supplies, please visit our Donate page and make a contribution. Be sure to let me know which of the two you want your money going towards, and we'll make sure it happens. I'll send out the results in a week.

Thanks! Happy Tiger Day!

On fluffy things and creatures of habit

It was about 3am, and I was still awake due to my propensity to be a nightowl.

I should roll back a moment and explain: We briefly experimented with an arrangement allowing a local farmer to graze his sheep and goats on the property. Critters eat, we don't have to mow the lawn, everyone wins. In practice, we did not win. The sheep, other than ostracizing their shorn friends at shearing time, were pretty well behaved. The goats on the other hand broke out of their pens every day, climbed on everything, and left droppings on everything they climbed, and everything they did not climb. Goats are celebrated poopers.

Back to the story. Hearing random bleating was not abnormal; in fact, watching the bittygoats frolic around and bleat was pretty cute, it's one of the things I miss about not having the critters around. This particular night, there was a lot of bleat. After about ten straight minutes of hearing one animal, I put on my outdoor duds and headlamp and went outside.

If you've never looked out into a field of herd animals in country dark and quiet, it's quite a sight to see a couple dozen sets of shining eyes looking back at you. As I approached, most bolted, but one set stayed fixed on me. Figuring this might be the culprit, I made my way through the tall grass over to the spot.

Turns out one of the bittysheeps had gotten his little head caught in an old bit of plastic fencing. Moving ever forward, he couldn't fit the rest of himself through the square, and was stuck, though fortunately wasn't having any breathing issue, and didn't cut or otherwise hurt himself.

So I get over there, and think, "The hell am I going to do about this?" I spent about fifteen seconds utterly flummoxed, looking for various tools I could use, or trying to think of crazy ways to get the sheep unstuck, and then it occurred to me: This is a sheep.

I spend time working with tigers. If you put an appendage in unprotected proximity to them, there is a chance that they will take that as an offering and relieve you of it. It isn't necessarily a huge chance, but it's far enough from zero that I don't go sticking my fingers or arms into tiger enclosures as a general rule. I had developed inertia from working with the tigers to the point that it actually took time before I realized that this was a sheep. It was a warm lurching ham wrapped in a fluffy sweater. Once I sorted that out, I simply took hold of the little guy, pulled the fence back over his head, and let him bound his way back to mama.

Tigers change you, man.