Today’s adventure was at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. This beautiful large refuge provides a sanctuary to rescue animals primarily Large cats. They have over 100 tigers/lions. Wow! William and I got there first thing this morning and the cats were very active. We watched as they climbed the enclosure some even played with the buckets and toys provided. We got to hear one lion carol. That was super cool.
They have been in business for 26 years and no one has ever been hurt and no animals have escaped. That is huge! They only feed the animals from out side their cage and the trainers are never in their habitat when the animal is. It was kind of a bummer as we walked around on our tour they had just sprayed for ticks and other bugs so a lot of the tigers were in their homes and not running around in their habitat.
Some of the tigers have come to the sanctuary because people have purchased baby cubs and when they grow up and become dangerous they try to get rid of them. 😠some tigers/lions are from other zoos or tiger exhibits that have been shut down or needed to relocate the animals due to health reasons. There was a Colorado facility that closed and turpentine took in 116 animals. William and I heard some pretty sad stories about how lions were not treaded very well and their cage was full of wood chips and rusty nails. Turpentine provide large enclosed with grass and toys. A lot of the Tigers/Lions were declawed because they were “Pets” and to try and eliminate some of the danger. Only problem is the tigers were not declawed correctly and it caused some more problems. One tiger has had four surgeries because of poor declawing she shed her nails under her skin on the pad of her foot and was walking along with all those nails in her paw. Ouch!
Turpentine is the tigers forever home! Once a tiger comes here they die here. They do not breed here at all. They have had a couple babies from moms they rescued but in general most tigers are adults. Tyson food donates 300,000 lbs of meat every year. That’s a lot of food. Walmart donates fresh produce for the animals. Will and I thought it was cool it was three tigers birthdays today and the trainers/ interns decorate their den and give them special treats and toys. How cool is that??? Makes my heart happy that they get spoiled on their birthday. They just built a huge bear enclosure. It will open up next month. We learned so much and it was so fun to see these tigers/lions.
We drive the hour back home ate at Firehouse subs and ended up at the movie theater watching Venom. It was really fun, the theater seats reclined and it was fun to kick out feet up and watch a movie!
