This article was written in August 2004
DRAINS, DITCHES AND DREAMING OF SUNSHINE!
Life at Big Cat Rescue (BCR)
Who would have thought that when I started my diploma in feline studies four years ago, my life would take on such a dramatic change! Since then I have completed an animal nursing course, ended up teaching animal care both at college and school and the most dramatic change of all, found a rescue sanctuary for big cats based in Florida, USA. It was during research for an essay on evolution of the cat that I found the place, then known as "Wildlife on Easy Street". I had typed "Sandcat" in the Google search engine and the first site that came up was this one. Once I visited the website, I just knew that I had to go there in person. The rest is history, and I visited in both December 2001 and October 2003.
The need to go back...
In late 2003, Wildlife on Easy Street changed its name to Big Cat Rescue. The reason for this was two-fold. Firstly, the original name gave the impression that all wildlife was catered for, and the sanctuary ended up taking in animals other than cats, everything from Lemurs, Binturongs and Civets to Patagonian Cavies and ducks with broken limbs.
One of the binterongs
This meant that there was less money for their original aim - to provide a safe home for unwanted exotic cats such as lions, tigers, cougars, leopards, lynx, bobcats and the like. Secondly, it gave the impression of "an easy life", something that it definitely is NOT! Having stayed at the sanctuary as a paying guest twice, the word I would use to describe this place is "tranquility", both for the cats and myself. There is a real air of calmness. The cats do not generally pace up and down (unlike many in zoos) unless it is getting near feeding time, and its so quiet that you feel that you could be anywhere in the world, not just ten minutes from Tampa International airport and very close to a major road system. Staying here helps me to revive after a challenging few months at school. No pupils shouting, no phones ringing, just peace and quiet. Each time I leave, whether I have been for a two-hour tour or stayed for several days, I find myself becoming emotional and within hours I start to feel a very strong need to return. Having just visited in October, by Easter I was already feeling the wanderlust again, so booked a flight to return in mid-July. However, this time I wanted to actually do something positive, rather than just wander round the site to watch the animals. I contacted Scott Lope, the Operations Manager to ask whether I could actually work as a volunteer and he agreed. He would have liked me to stay for several weeks, but unfortunately my commitments on this side of the Atlantic meant that I could only go for a few days. However, it would give me a taste of what it is really like to work with the cats.
In preparation....
Going in July, I knew that the weather would be very hot indeed. I had fears of bad sunburn and so I decided to prepare myself for this by building up some form of a tan on a sunbed. For weeks I did my few minutes under the UV, building it up gradually, telling everyone that I had been to the Greek Island of Handsworth, Sheffield. By the time I got on the plane, I was no longer pasty white and quite confident that I could cope with the hot Florida sunshine.
But the best laid plans - Day One at BCR...
After a long and at times frustrating journey, changing planes at Washington DC, I finally arrived at Tampa some two hours late. I had been travelling for 19 hours, but my journey was not yet complete. . My friends, Steve & Carol Lawson met me at the airport and we drove for an hour, down to Sarasota where they live, stopping off on the way for me to collect supplies for my stay at the sanctuary. Shopping at midnight in Wal-Mart (ASDA) on Sunday evening was actually a bit of a blur, but I got food and drinks to last me for the next five days. The following day I was up at 5.30 am and on the road back to Tampa by 7.00 am, with Steve Lawson driving. We set off in rain, and as we got closer to Tampa the weather got worse and worse, with torrential rain by the time we got to Big Cat Rescue. I signed in, took my clothes and supplies to my cabin and returned to the main area, ready to start work, but wondering what we could possibly do in this dreadful weather. I was issued with a walkie-talkie and a red t-shirt with the Big Cat Rescue logo on the front, and "Trainee" in huge letters on the back. Everyone who works at the sanctuary must wear their issued t-shirts at all times when on site as it identifies them as volunteers. Note the colour of my t-shirt; I'll come back to this later.
Within thirty minutes I was out in the pouring rain, helping to check that the cats had all been cleaned and watered. This is known as "double-check", one volunteer does a section of the sanctuary, and another checks that they have not missed any cats. It may seem laborious, but with so many cats, it is an essential part of the daily routine. As we checked the cats, it became very evident that there was a drainage problem; many of the cages were starting to become really wet and fill with large areas of water. This was reported to Scott and within minutes, we were issued with a variety of implements such as garden rakes and spades and we were on our way to clear ditches that were full of pine needles, leaves and sticks. The rain was so heavy that the ditches and drains were becoming blocked with debris, and the water was backing up into the cages.
So, within twelve hours of arriving in "sunny" Florida, I was in the pouring rain, soaking wet from head to toe, standing in six to eight inches of water (in my trainer shoes), fishing out debris from the ditches, being told to watch out for fire ants, poison ivy, spiders and leeches. Not quite what I had expected in The Sunshine State! So much for all my time on the sunbed!
The rain continued without letting up at all and we wondered whether we were going to have to build an ark for all the animals! The work was very hard, physical graft, but as the water started to move and the level in some of the cages started to drop, it was all worth it. Some of the cats loved the water - the new white tiger, Zabu, loved splashing in her newly found pond, but others weren't so keen. In particular, some of the caracals and servals looked like they really needed pairs of wellington boots as they plodged around in six inches of water. However, they weren't really blessed with brains as they did have drier areas in their cages, but insisted on coming down to the lower areas to watch us as we worked to get the water flowing again.
Zabu enjoying her new pond
The next job was to remove heavy wet pine leaves from one of the empty cages. All the cages are made out of metal, and we had to use step ladders to climb up on the inside of the cage to pull the debris through, raking it and collecting it in plastic refuse bags for removal. Looking back, I feel that this was the most dangerous activity that I undertook during my visit. You see, we were actually working in thunderstorms - on metal ladders in metal cages! I admit that the thunder storms were in the distance, but being honest, this is the one activity that I really wouldn't want to do again in this type of weather. The sobering thought was that just a few days before my arrival, Casper, one of the cougars had been struck down and killed by lightening, inside his cage.
Everyone was soaking and filthy - both animals and humans, and by the time I finished that night I can honestly say that I had never been so wet in my life. It was so bad that I actually got into the shower with all my clothes on, thinking that this would be less messy all round rather than trying to take my clothes off and get mud all over the floor. To make matters worse, having spent much of the day in ditches, I positively stunk! Somehow I had to wash my t-shirt ready to be clean for the next morning. When I took it off, all my underwear was pink because the dye had run! My socks had changed from white to a very dark shade of grey. They were past redemption so went straight into the bin. I collapsed into bed and almost immediately fell asleep.
My bed
Strange noises in the night....
I had been asleep for a few hours when I was woken by a strange sound that I thought was a machine. I decided to get up to investigate, expecting to find some sort of generator. However, it was not a mechanical item, but loads of bullfrogs all croaking together in the darkness. I have never heard such a racket and it took some time to get back to sleep.
Day Two...
Tuesday started as Monday had ended, with torrential rain. However, this time I was better prepared. Whilst it was raining, the temperature was still warm, so I put on my shorts, rather than a pair of jeans as I had done the previous day. I decided that it would be easier to dry my legs rather than another pair of heavy jeans. I also tied my hair up - two pigtails and a ponytail at the back. What a sight!!! By the time I got down to the food prep centre, having plodged through six inches of water for most of the way, I was once again soaking wet and rather bedraggled, and my attire caused
Scott to have a good laugh at my expense. The food prep centre had changed dramatically since my last visit. Gone was the old shabby "portakabin", now there was a proper brick built structure, in part thanks to the exhibitors at the 2003 Maine Coon Cat Club show, who had raised over $200 for the new structure. Now there was a large clean and very hygienic building to prepare all the food for the cats and other animals.
Old Food Prep Cabin New Food Prep Centre
Work starts at 8.00 am, and I was usually down at the centre by 7.30 am. This gave me a few minutes to have a chat with Scott before the other volunteers arrived to start work. The days are long, often not finishing until almost 7.00 pm with only a very short break for lunch. Obviously, the regular volunteers stay as long as they can, but there were also several interns, people who come to spend 3-6 months working at the sanctuary, and they are expected to work five or six days a week, doing 11 hour days. For this, they get no payment or food, but are provided with basic accommodation. They have to support themselves financially during their stay. Reasons for doing an internship vary, but for most it is done to back up their degree course. One intern wants to work with primates eventually and needs practical experience of working with larger animals; another (who was from Brazil) is training to be a vet and wishes to specialise in big cats. There were two from the UK - one who was doing this as part of her work experience from a college animal husbandry course and the other who took three months off work just because she wanted to work with tigers. She is actually a secretary at a Scottish university, but having visited in 2003, decided to come back to work with the cats just to gain experience!
The day starts with the volunteers signing-in. Then everyone decides which area they want to clean. New volunteers work with more experienced people, but its not long before you are working independently. Buckets are set up - these contain different brushes, one for the water bowls and one for cleaning the feeding slab. The bucket also contains a pot with bleach solution in it, a large pair of barbeque tongs for collecting uneaten food and poop, a bin bag to place the poop and meat in, and a rather ingenious long metal bar that can be placed through the cage bars to fish out the poop in the first place. The cats' cages are never actually entered, unless the cat is locked up in its "lock-out" cage. There is no physical contact with the cats, except the "interactive cats" where people can actually go in with them. Even these are cleaned without entering the cage. It is important that no one touches the animals, even through the cage bars. Although some of the cats really want attention and it is very tempting to want to stroke them, it must be remembered that they are not domestic pussy cats, and if ever someone got hurt, even unintentionally by a cat grabbing the person through the bars, then the whole place could be closed down and what would happen to the 150 cats then?
The cleaning routine....
A strict routine is followed during cleaning. Firstly the tile on top of the water bowl is cleaned. Then the water is tipped out of the bowl over the feeding slab to moisten it and the bowl is cleaned. Then the feeding slab is scrubbed. A water hose is then used to wash the tile, bowl and slab and the water is replenished. One hose caters for several cats. After finishing, the hose is turned off at the tap and emptied before being rolled up into a neat pile. Any food uneaten from the night before is recorded, as are any unusual behaviours with individual cats. Each cat is checked during cleaning, by observing it as it walks around, looking for signs of injury or illness. Problems are immediately relayed to Scott by walkie-talkie and he comes to examine the animal.
With almost 200 animals to care for, cleaning and double-checking takes most of the morning. Scott then gives everyone other jobs for the afternoon. This can range from landscaping to cage maintenance, cleaning vehicles, moving items around the site, helping in the food preparation area and of course, dealing with the tours that take place twice a day.
More drains...
As the rain continued to belt down, we found that although the ditches were now effective, the drains were becoming really blocked with silt and sand. Many of the roads on site were several inches deep in water, and all tours had to be cancelled, which is very bad news for the sanctuary - no paying public, no money to feed the animals! It costs over $1000 a day just to keep the sanctuary going and this place gets no government aid. Without the paying public and their donations it would soon go under altogether. We had to get the water moving, and quickly. This meant digging some of the drains up and clearing the debris from inside the plastic pipes. The smell didn't really affect me, although I was well aware of how much I smelt of stale sludge. Carol Lewis, founder of the sanctuary, came to visit me during the late morning. We swapped some things - and she asked me to go out to lunch with her. I felt that I had to turn her down, as I smelt so bad! This was a disappointment, but at least we got to catch up with our news. She also gave me a pre-release copy of a new video that has just been completed, about the species of cat at BCR, as well as some of the stories behind individual cats. I have watched this over and over since leaving, and hope that at some point other members of the club will have the opportunity to see it too, so they can learn a little more about the place I hold so dear to my heart.
The ducks enjoyed the rain!
After clearing drains, a group of us were sent over to landscape one of the empty pens. This meant digging up ferns from one area of the sanctuary and replanting them in the cage. Sounds nice, but we were planting them in very muddy and often waterlogged areas. However, once done, the pen looked much better and is now partially ready for another new cat to be taken in.
Tonga, one of the
white servals
And finally the sun shone...
It was just after 3.00 pm when that golden ball in the sky finally made an appearance for the first time in three days and once the sun shone I actually dried out pretty quickly. Other routine jobs were carried out and then we starting the feeding routine. Scott and other experienced keepers prepare the food for all the animals during the day. There is a large freezer beside the food prep centre as well as a massive walk-in fridge in the centre itself where meat is defrosted and vegetables for the non-carnivores is kept. There are several feeding routes and I was lucky enough to be on virtually all of them during my visit so I got to see almost all of the cats over the four-day period. Feeding is actually done by the keepers, those experienced volunteers who have been fully trained, and the inexperienced volunteers and interns get to pull the cart. Each cart is loaded up with buckets of meat, and a list of individuals’ requirements is issued. Some of the cats get extra supplements such as glucosamide, which seems to help with joint problems in the older cats. My favourite feeding experience was when Scott took me to feed his "specials". This included Nikita the lion who had been confiscated in a drugs raid. Nikki had been used to protect drugs and had spent her first few months of life living in a basement on a concrete floor, consequently when she arrived, just a couple of weeks before my first ever visit, she had huge lumps on her elbows and a number of behavioural problems. Who could have ever dreamed that she would turn out to be the most stunning lion with no physical evidence of her poor start in life? She truly loves Scott and I was amazed at her gentleness as he fed her. His special charges also included Cameron and Zabu. These two recent additions came from a roadside zoo, a small unlicensed outfit where people can stop at the side of the road and pay to see them in small cages. At night they were kept in a basement. Their owner had planned to mate them - a male African lion and a female white tiger to produce tigrons and ligers, to make money as these cross-breeds apparently command high prices from people wanting to buy one. When the owner died, his wife could no longer afford to keep them and they ended up at BCR. Their story is all too familiar, they were the lucky ones, but how many more end up being sold on to game farms in the USA where canned hunts take place? These establishments will drug the animal, often confining it in a small area and take large payments from individuals who then shoot the animal and have it stuffed as some form of "hunting trophy". Yes, unfortunately this does happen... Thankfully Cameron and Zabu have been saved from this torture. At the moment the two cats are living in separate pens to prevent any unwanted pregnancy, but because they have lived together for so long, a large enclosure is being built as I speak and after appropriate permanent birth control has been implemented, they will be put back together. Because they have been handled since birth, these two cats are very friendly and like Nikki, they were very gentle with Scott as he fed them. The bond between Scott and his new feline charges was already developing.
Day Three...
I was again up before dawn, and sat outside my cabin door watching the sunrise over the sanctuary lake. The day turned out to be hot and sunny, thank goodness, as I would have been so disappointed if all four days had been bad weather. For the first two days I had been unable to use my camera or video because of the water, so I have no photos of the flooded site. It was quite amazing how quickly the water level dropped and by lunchtime on Wednesday there was little evidence of the flooding we had seen. Everywhere was dry and the cats were no longer wallowing in water. I understand that although the flooding situation I had just encountered was not unheard of, it is actually quite rare. Trust me to arrive at a time of crisis!
I walked up to the food prep centre via the main section of the sanctuary and stopped at Hercules' pen. He is the most wonderful snow leopard and I jokingly call him the love of my life. However, he isn't often out, especially during summer months, preferring the cool atmosphere of his cleverly concealed walk-in freezer that sits inside his pen. To humans, it just looks like a rock face, but inside is a freezer that he can cool off in. I shouted his name and to my amazement he came out. Apparently he doesn't do this for most people and I felt very honoured. Maybe its just me hoping, but he seems to come out whenever I call his name, something I did during numerous times during the visit. Others tell me that he doesn't do this for most people. His eyes seem to follow me wherever I go and he bounds over to play with me. According to Scott, he is currently undergoing tests for a potential spleen problem and was neutered fairly recently as his DNA profile show that he is not 100% pure snow leopard, though what his background is, no one as yet knows. He looks like a snow leopard, but somewhere in his background there might be something else. Consequently, he is of no use in any breeding programme to help to save this rare species.
I made it to the food prep centre by 7.40 am. Work started by 8.00am. I had just started on the morning cleaning routine when Scott called on the walkie-talkie to ask me to come over tot the visitor centre to meet him. On arrival I was asked whether I would mind leaving the cleaning and put on my school hat. There were two boys on the 9.00 am tour who were proving to be a bit of a handful and I was needed to backup the tour. This job involves going round with the tour guide and guests, monitoring for unreasonable or unsafe behaviour as well as answering questions. Having actually done the tour as a visitor on several occasions, it was great to be asked to work on the other side now. The boys weren't actually too bad, more excitable at the opportunity to see big cats rather than being disruptive and I thoroughly enjoyed answering questions on the various cats and the work of the sanctuary. We were standing at one of the tiger pens when someone noticed a box turtle about to try to enter the cage. I had the job of grabbing it and finding a safe place to put it, well away from big cats who might just fancy this turtle as a potential meal.
For the second day running, I helped one of the volunteers to prepare the food for the non-carnivores. They include the Patagonian cavies, genets, civets and binturongs. The task involved cutting up lots and lots of fruit, especially bananas, fifty or more each time, and to be honest, the whole thing has put me off eating another banana. So don't even think of offering me one when you next see me!
Baby Cakes, one of my non-feline charges
Mid afternoon I arrived back at the food prep centre. The floor was filthy with all the people tramping in and out with muddy shoes during the floods, so I set to and cleaned it. This was very hot work as the centre is large and I only had a household sponge mop. The task took two and a half hours to complete, in temperatures of 30 degrees plus. However, it looked much better once finished - until the next downpour takes place. I left a donation when I left the sanctuary a couple of days later, with instructions for Scott to buy a proper mop with some of the money. Hopefully it will be waiting for me when I next visit!
Day four ... more sunshine
My last full day! How I wished that I had another four weeks to stay. The morning was spent doing the standard cleaning routine - except this morning was anything but routine. Firstly I met my first big bullfrog, a huge yellow and brown chap with a very daunting expression. He was massive, and not the prettiest thing I had ever set eyes on. Then Kate noticed a really bad smell coming from Pisces' pen. It turned out to be a dead rat, one that the Fishing Cat had obviously caught and killed since the clean out the previous day. The stench of rotting flesh was stomach-turning but she managed to remove it and dispose the dead creature. It doesn't take long in this heat to decompose. For some reason, volunteers were thin on the ground so we all worked together once our individual routes had been completed to do the one outstanding area - the servals. There are a lot of servals at BCR, and the number waiting for a place is constantly over 100. Because it is becoming more difficult to obtain and keep the really large cats such as lions and tigers (as the regulations regarding the keeping of big cats are starting to tighten up in the USA) people are now opting for smaller cats such as servals and caracals. However, there are two things that servals are really good at - hissing and peeing. They spray everywhere, and those cute serval kittens soon grow up to become "hose pipe" cats. Consequently, most people cannot or do not wish to deal with this so get rid of them. Some, such as Frosty the white-footed serval, are quite amiable. Others spit and hiss if you go anywhere near them. Personally I wouldn't want one of these in my home.
Scott gave me the afternoon off to take photos and talk to volunteers. This was a very bitter-sweet time for me, as I knew that my time was coming to an end. I was very fortunate to be able to do the "front" feeding section that evening, helping with the big cats including cougars, lions, tigers as well as some of the sandcats, bobcats and lynx. Of the standard feeding routes I did, I think that this was my favourite. Obviously going with Scott to feed his "special charges" was the exception, but that route isn't on the main list anyway! Interestingly, the big cats seemed better at taking their food - it was the smaller cats such as lynx and bobcats that snatched the food as it was being put through the bars onto the feeding slab. Feeding complete and all the equipment put away I headed back to the cabin for the last night. I took a slow walk back, visiting several of my favourites on the way. That night I packed my bag, ready for departure the next morning. Again I watched the sun set, accompanied by three swans and two deer that had swum across the lake to graze outside my cabin door. The bullfrogs started singing again, but by now I was getting used to them and their tremendous noise.
Day five, the farewell...
I was not looking forward to this day, despite the lovely prospect of going on to stay with my close friends, Steve and Carol. However, I did get the chance to catch up with one of the volunteers who has become a friend over the last three years, Carolyn - heavily pregnant with her second child.
I got my stuff together and went off into the sanctuary for one last time to see all the cats. Just by chance, Hercules' keeper, Bill was near his pen. As Bill walked up, Hercules ran over to him for attention and I managed to get some good photos.
Bill told me that he used to walk Hercules on a lead around the site but eventually the snow leopard got too strong to handle safely and no longer gets the opportunity to leave his pen. Hercules does have some behavioural problems, the worst being that he will sit and bite his back foot for attention. I told Bill that I had not seen this behaviour since my first visit, and just then, as if prompted, Hercules did just that! He sat with his foot in his mouth, rather like a dog would hold a bone. I took a quick photo and then made a sharp exit, as the only way he will stop once he starts this is to leave the area.
Bill and I spent several minutes talking about the sanctuary. He said that aside from the financial side, the biggest worry is that someone will try to get onto the premises to release the animals. If this happened, then it would be almost inevitable that BCR would have to close. I'm sure that many of you will have seen the news headlines where tigers have been shot after escaping from their owners' homes.
I bumped into Scott as I wandered round. I became very emotional as I tried to thank him for giving me such a wonderful opportunity to work at such close quarters with the cats. However, as the tears began to roll down my face, he also became emotional and we ended up putting on our sunglasses as we were just making each other worse. He told me to go to the volunteer sign in hut and get the "interactive" keys so I could spend my last half hour with Raindance the Bobcat. He wanted my last memory of BCR to be a good one.
So, I spent my last few minutes petting a bobcat, playing ball with her and taking photos. It was wonderful - just me and a bobcat together. How many people ever get that opportunity in a lifetime? Then I heard the big bell ring. This is positioned on the other side of the main gate and can be heard in most of the sanctuary. I knew that this must be one of the Lawsons, arriving to collect me. I left Rainy, a huge lump in my throat.
Steve was waiting for me in the parking area, talking to Carolyn. I put my things into the car, pressed the switch to open the mechanical gate and we drove through with the gate closing behind us. I wept silent tears all the way to Sarasota.
I threw my trainer shoes in the bin when I got to Sarasota. Like two pairs of socks already discarded, they were beyond redemption and it gave me a good excuse to buy some new ones. I also visited "The Red Barn", a huge market with lots of 'cool' cat clothes for sale, so I came home with one or two new outfits to wear.
Final thoughts...
Each time I visit BCR my love of the place deepens. It really stirs a huge range of emotions, both happy and sad. There is a huge amount of work that takes place just to keep it running, and thankfully a lot of volunteers who help out, some come to clean before starting their day's work, others rush straight here after work to feed. Many spend much of their free time working at the sanctuary. The work is very hard, manual and physical, even the poop and cleaning buckets get heavy as they are filled with waste. Much of the work might be considered mundane - for me the worst task was cutting up bananas, it seemed to take forever to get enough prepared. However, the benefits far outweigh the down sides. To be in close contact with such beautiful cats, to watch their recovery from abuse or injury is so rewarding. I have watched all my videos, going back to my first visit, and even I can see how some of these cats have dramatically improved. Shaquelle comes instantly to mind. When I first went, he would cower if anyone went near his pen. Now he sits on his rock like lord of the manor. This cat had suffered dreadful physical abuse - he had been a performing black leopard in a Las Vegas nightclub, and when he didn't to the trick correctly his trainer beat him with a baseball bat. Consequently he suffered broken eye sockets and other injuries to the skull. To this day his eyes still weep constantly and he has a lot of bone scarring to the head. However, the sanctuary and those who work with him have given him the chance to have some peace and happiness. He will now respond positively to humans, rather than cower and hide away. However, he still has a fear of men, although he is quite relaxed around females.
One of the tigers going into his lock-out for his food
Would I do it again?
In an instant! Despite the foul weather for the first couple of days, the huge number of insect bites I suffered, the nasty rash that appeared around my leg and having to throw some clothes away, I would go back tomorrow and do it all again - rain, fire ants and all! In fact, I'm already consulting my diary to see when I have the next window of opportunity... Now, how much would it cost to go for Easter, I wonder?
For more information about BCR...
Visit their website at www.bigcatrescue.org
You can contact me at butters@keverstone.co.uk