We went on a wild adventure on Saturday!
Our friend Sophie turned three and invited us to her party at the Carolina Tiger Rescue Center.
The CTR is a nonprofit wildlife sanctuary whose mission is saving and protecting wild cats in captivity and in the wild. We were able to go on a guided tour of their facilities!
Before we left on our animal hunt, we made some toys for the cats.
We coated cardboard boxes with perfume and spices.
The cats love anything that is very fragrant. And after making these toys, we were fragrant as well.
I smelled like Tommy Girl the rest of the day!
The first type of animal we encountered were the Caracals.
They have really long hairs hanging off of their ears.
At each enclosure we were able to watch our guide feed the animals some fresh meat.
This ocelot was pacing and ready for his treats! These are the smelliest of the cats too.
These guys can really climb! They have fencing all around and on top of their enclosures.
Next up we visited a tiger! He loves rubbing his face and body against the fence.
It was so impressive to see these big guys so close!
They are just beautiful!
Next we found the lions. Our guide started off with her back to the lions, and the lioness quickly got up and began tracking her and came right up to the fence to try to get her! The lions seemed so huge! I don't know if it was because we were so close, or because they were so healthy (at least compared to the lion at the zoo).
Throughout our tour the guide told us that many of their animals were rescued from idiots, I mean people, who were trying to keep them as pets. Apparently there are counties in NC where this is legal! To keep a tiger as a pet! Without permits in some cases!
Now this little guy is a binturong. He is in fact a cat.
He loves to eat fruit though and small rodents.
Finley was very impressed by all the animals, but always anxious to get to the next cage!
Luckily it didn't rain on us, but it was very muddy!
This white tiger was so elegant looking.
I think this is a serval hanging out in his little house.
On our last stop visiting the tigers these two were about to get into a fight over some food!
We very carefully took pictures in front of them.
At the end of our tour it was time for food and cake!
Of course it was a tiger cake!
Later on that day I asked Finley what his favorite part of the party was and he said... the cake!
This child has a serious sweet tooth problem.
Well David and I both really enjoyed all the animals. It was such a cool experience to see the animals so close. And after our visit I still can't believe my mom grew up in Africa with a lion in their house! Just crazy.
1 comment:
Your mom grew up with a lion in thier house!?! Crazy!
I had no idea there were so many different types of big cats.
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