August 15-16 with the Kidlets (Carolina Tiger Rescue, Pt One)
On Thursday, the kidlets arrived. They'd had an early morning, so we decided to take it easy that afternoon and let them get settled in. After a big dinner, we relaxed the rest of the night.
If you are new to our blog or the Friends and Family Mailer, here are the kidlets in question...not really kids any more. Alyssa is on the left. She is commonly referred to as Bonus Child here on the blog. She is my stepson Joey's long-term girlfriend and we consider her part of our family. Joey is pictured on the right and is usually identified here as Kidlet #1. Kidlet #2, Amanda, could not make it down. Joey and Alyssa are pictured here hanging out at my sister-in-law's house.
Okay, so back to their visit, right? On Friday, we ventured out to Pittsboro to the Carolina Tiger Rescue. The weather this past week had been inconsistent at best, so by the time we'd gone online for a final time Thursday afternoon to purchase tickets. By inconsistent I mean torrential downpours. Anyway, we'd checked only hours earlier and the eighteen slots remaining that had been available for the day tour vanished. There were only two slots left. We explained to the kids what had happened and gave them the option of going on their own tour, with the assurance that we would be waiting at the CTR cabin the entire time or they could opt for a later tour with the four of us together. Alyssa promptly replied that they hadn't come with the intention of spending time without us, which I thought I was very sweet. So, it was decided. A twilight tour it was going to be.
Given the hefty price of the twilight tour ($26.50 versus the normal $17 fee) we had hoped there would be lots of interaction with the animals and maybe a feeding or two. (On a daylight tour they give them treats of meat hunks and other goodies). Maybe our first experience at CTR had skewed our expectations, because we were a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong. I think the kids had a great time, but Darryl and myself felt a teensy bit slighted. Regardless, it's a great place to visit, very educational and an awesome experience like no zoo you've ever been in.
Carolina Tiger Rescue was once the Carnivore Preservation Trust. As the name implies, CTR is a rescue for tigers and other big cats. The organization began in the 1970s when a geneticist at UNC began breeding lesser known animals (including binturongs and kinkajous) that were quickly disappearing in population. These animals were what they call a keystone species--a breed critical to the survival of their own ecosystem. For more than two decades, the group worked to boost the number of these creatures while keeping a nationwide genetic registry. The genetic registry would help to insure the health of future populations to come...much like you might check AKC bloodlines for dogs. Eventually, as the numbers for these animals climbed, so did the need for homes for displaced big cats. Less than a decade ago, the group changed their focus and adopted their new name.
Today, up to 75 animals of various sizes can be found on the 55-acre complex. For $17 per adult (in season) you can take a guided day time walking tour. Sorry, I don't recall the charge for children. Oh, and kids under 13 are permitted on day tours only. Unlike a zoo, where you are peering over a tall wall or looking from behind a plate of glass at an animal, the CTR allows you to get as close as three feet away from these majestic creatures.
Before I forget, for you locals....tours must be booked and paid for in advance and entire days have been known to sell out. There are typically two tours each Saturday and Sunday--one at 10 and the other at 1. In the warmer months, they offer the twilight tours on Friday and Saturday. If you have 15 or more in your party, you can arrange for a private tour. Tours are conducted no matter rain or shine.
When you first arrive on the property, you enter a gate. Visitors are directed by signs to a two story cabin for a brief orientation and review of rules. Oh, and you have to sign a waiver. I guess that goes without saying. Nothing says family vacation like signing a death and dismemberment waiver. Kidding, Karen. I kid. Totally kid.
Once everyone is signed off and has the required arm bands, you follow your guides outdoors, past a detatched house. The house is where some of the staffers live. Next, you'll go through a second gate, into the compound. I think the walk is only a half mile loop, but depending on audience participation, the tours can take up to two hours. Our group was talkative and we clocked over two hours.
The paths are wide and easy to navigate...mostly hard, compacted gravel, but there are a few ruts here and there (they transport interns and staff by truck back and forth through the complex on the same paths). The tour guides give information on each animal, their individual personalities and the back story on how the animal came to have a forever home at the rescue. A few minutes in and it becomes quickly evident how much love and reverence the guides have for the animals. And no, you won't see all the animals on the property. Some are less than social.
Would you believe it is perfectly legal to keep a tiger as a pet in North Carolina? Isn't that crazy!? The majority of states have no laws prohibiting keeping a big cat as a pet. Yikes! But yet you are not allowed to keep a smaller native species, like a squirrel--something that is indigenous to the state. Some of the furry residents of CTR were indeed pets....before the owners realized these wild creatures do grow up and can become awfully big, dangerous and destructive. As our tour guide put it, before they make your nice sofa into a three-piece sectional. Or your arm into an amputation. Once they start to grow up, they are relinquished or sometimes even abandoned. More on that later though....
The animals are separated from the tours by loose, tall chain link fences. Oh, and there is a rope you must stand behind. The big cats realize the fences aren’t stable enough to climb, and they are frightened by the sound and so they don't even attempt it. At first I thought the idea of these enclosures seemed so sad, but the tour guides will assure you that the smallest animals get a quarter acre and then the size of the space goes up according to the cat. Their are enrichments given to the cats weekly to stimulate their thinking and encourage exercise and many of them have climbing platforms within the space in addition to regular trees and bushes. The largest of the enclosures stands around 16 feet high. Cats here can live up to twice the normal life expectancy than if they were in the wild. Depending on the animal, they are sometimes paired with mates or companions.
One of the first animals you are introduced to is Raj, a tiger. He seems to have a particular dislike for tall men. As a matter of fact, he often tries to spray them. Part of what the group is told is that if he begins scooting his tush up to the fence, you need to immediately take three big steps to the left or right. I guess the inclination for most people is to begin backing straight up and Raj has unfailing accuracy. *laughs* The spray smells curiously like buttered popcorn. No, seriously.
This is not Raj, by the way...I'm not sure that any of my pictures of him turned out. I'm going out of sequence with these pictures. I think this was Carmelita.
And for any of you wondering why I have no pictures of the kids at CTR, it was because I hadn't thought to download the camera until their third day here. We were partway through another adventure and my memory card prompted me to reformat. I don't know if it is a corrupted card or what, because it happened once before and I thought it was a fluke. Not sure if it was jostled, but when I tried to slide in a new battery right beside it, the camera basically gobbled up two days worth of photos. I seriously could've cried, ya'll. Like big, fat crocodile tears. When we returned back to the house, retrieving the lost photos proved futile. So, yeah, the shots you are seeing here are recycled from a previous visit. My apologies to anyone that has seen them before.
If you are new to our blog or the Friends and Family Mailer, here are the kidlets in question...not really kids any more. Alyssa is on the left. She is commonly referred to as Bonus Child here on the blog. She is my stepson Joey's long-term girlfriend and we consider her part of our family. Joey is pictured on the right and is usually identified here as Kidlet #1. Kidlet #2, Amanda, could not make it down. Joey and Alyssa are pictured here hanging out at my sister-in-law's house.
Okay, so back to their visit, right? On Friday, we ventured out to Pittsboro to the Carolina Tiger Rescue. The weather this past week had been inconsistent at best, so by the time we'd gone online for a final time Thursday afternoon to purchase tickets. By inconsistent I mean torrential downpours. Anyway, we'd checked only hours earlier and the eighteen slots remaining that had been available for the day tour vanished. There were only two slots left. We explained to the kids what had happened and gave them the option of going on their own tour, with the assurance that we would be waiting at the CTR cabin the entire time or they could opt for a later tour with the four of us together. Alyssa promptly replied that they hadn't come with the intention of spending time without us, which I thought I was very sweet. So, it was decided. A twilight tour it was going to be.
Given the hefty price of the twilight tour ($26.50 versus the normal $17 fee) we had hoped there would be lots of interaction with the animals and maybe a feeding or two. (On a daylight tour they give them treats of meat hunks and other goodies). Maybe our first experience at CTR had skewed our expectations, because we were a little disappointed. Don't get me wrong. I think the kids had a great time, but Darryl and myself felt a teensy bit slighted. Regardless, it's a great place to visit, very educational and an awesome experience like no zoo you've ever been in.
Carolina Tiger Rescue was once the Carnivore Preservation Trust. As the name implies, CTR is a rescue for tigers and other big cats. The organization began in the 1970s when a geneticist at UNC began breeding lesser known animals (including binturongs and kinkajous) that were quickly disappearing in population. These animals were what they call a keystone species--a breed critical to the survival of their own ecosystem. For more than two decades, the group worked to boost the number of these creatures while keeping a nationwide genetic registry. The genetic registry would help to insure the health of future populations to come...much like you might check AKC bloodlines for dogs. Eventually, as the numbers for these animals climbed, so did the need for homes for displaced big cats. Less than a decade ago, the group changed their focus and adopted their new name.
Today, up to 75 animals of various sizes can be found on the 55-acre complex. For $17 per adult (in season) you can take a guided day time walking tour. Sorry, I don't recall the charge for children. Oh, and kids under 13 are permitted on day tours only. Unlike a zoo, where you are peering over a tall wall or looking from behind a plate of glass at an animal, the CTR allows you to get as close as three feet away from these majestic creatures.
Before I forget, for you locals....tours must be booked and paid for in advance and entire days have been known to sell out. There are typically two tours each Saturday and Sunday--one at 10 and the other at 1. In the warmer months, they offer the twilight tours on Friday and Saturday. If you have 15 or more in your party, you can arrange for a private tour. Tours are conducted no matter rain or shine.
When you first arrive on the property, you enter a gate. Visitors are directed by signs to a two story cabin for a brief orientation and review of rules. Oh, and you have to sign a waiver. I guess that goes without saying. Nothing says family vacation like signing a death and dismemberment waiver. Kidding, Karen. I kid. Totally kid.
Once everyone is signed off and has the required arm bands, you follow your guides outdoors, past a detatched house. The house is where some of the staffers live. Next, you'll go through a second gate, into the compound. I think the walk is only a half mile loop, but depending on audience participation, the tours can take up to two hours. Our group was talkative and we clocked over two hours.
The paths are wide and easy to navigate...mostly hard, compacted gravel, but there are a few ruts here and there (they transport interns and staff by truck back and forth through the complex on the same paths). The tour guides give information on each animal, their individual personalities and the back story on how the animal came to have a forever home at the rescue. A few minutes in and it becomes quickly evident how much love and reverence the guides have for the animals. And no, you won't see all the animals on the property. Some are less than social.
Would you believe it is perfectly legal to keep a tiger as a pet in North Carolina? Isn't that crazy!? The majority of states have no laws prohibiting keeping a big cat as a pet. Yikes! But yet you are not allowed to keep a smaller native species, like a squirrel--something that is indigenous to the state. Some of the furry residents of CTR were indeed pets....before the owners realized these wild creatures do grow up and can become awfully big, dangerous and destructive. As our tour guide put it, before they make your nice sofa into a three-piece sectional. Or your arm into an amputation. Once they start to grow up, they are relinquished or sometimes even abandoned. More on that later though....
The animals are separated from the tours by loose, tall chain link fences. Oh, and there is a rope you must stand behind. The big cats realize the fences aren’t stable enough to climb, and they are frightened by the sound and so they don't even attempt it. At first I thought the idea of these enclosures seemed so sad, but the tour guides will assure you that the smallest animals get a quarter acre and then the size of the space goes up according to the cat. Their are enrichments given to the cats weekly to stimulate their thinking and encourage exercise and many of them have climbing platforms within the space in addition to regular trees and bushes. The largest of the enclosures stands around 16 feet high. Cats here can live up to twice the normal life expectancy than if they were in the wild. Depending on the animal, they are sometimes paired with mates or companions.
One of the first animals you are introduced to is Raj, a tiger. He seems to have a particular dislike for tall men. As a matter of fact, he often tries to spray them. Part of what the group is told is that if he begins scooting his tush up to the fence, you need to immediately take three big steps to the left or right. I guess the inclination for most people is to begin backing straight up and Raj has unfailing accuracy. *laughs* The spray smells curiously like buttered popcorn. No, seriously.
This is not Raj, by the way...I'm not sure that any of my pictures of him turned out. I'm going out of sequence with these pictures. I think this was Carmelita.
And for any of you wondering why I have no pictures of the kids at CTR, it was because I hadn't thought to download the camera until their third day here. We were partway through another adventure and my memory card prompted me to reformat. I don't know if it is a corrupted card or what, because it happened once before and I thought it was a fluke. Not sure if it was jostled, but when I tried to slide in a new battery right beside it, the camera basically gobbled up two days worth of photos. I seriously could've cried, ya'll. Like big, fat crocodile tears. When we returned back to the house, retrieving the lost photos proved futile. So, yeah, the shots you are seeing here are recycled from a previous visit. My apologies to anyone that has seen them before.
