The Wildlife Sanctuary

Warning...
This post has absolutely nothing to do with stitching of any kind and there are a LOT of photos!

Some days I just need to get out and see the world around me. You know, that world outside of the throat plate of my sewing machine!  LOL!!

The weather was perfect, so we took a little venture over to the Wildlife Sanctuary

Having never been there before, I had no idea what to expect.

It's definitely not a thing of beauty...

 

 But someone gave it some good long thought, and it is probably the best plan ever for the animals and people alike.

 

You see the elevated walkways allow you to view the animals without being in their space. 

They explained to us as we entered that when people are at eye level with the animals they feel threatened. They don't seem to mind us a bit if we are above them.

So away we walked on the 1 mile of elevated walk. 

That's a 2 mile round trip stroll, but the weather was perfect for it.

 

Incredible view of the big cats!

Notice that culvert pipe?

I'll tell you about that a little later

 

Beautiful big waterfalls and ponds with streams for the animals to play in.

 

 

 

 This pride is not only all rescued animals, but they are a family that were able to stay intact as a unit.

 

I was surprised to see Bob Barkers name associated with this. 

He is a very big supporter we were told. 

These 3 guys just came in last week from Mexico. They are beautiful!

I love this photo, it shows just how gorgeous this animal is!

New tigers are kept separate until they adapt to the new surrounding. Then they are allowed to roam with the others.

 

Remember me mentioning the culverts above?

These 20' concrete pipes go underground, into very large concrete septic tanks that are filled with straw. It allows the bears to hibernate in the winter. There were over 30 bears in this habitat but only about 3-4 were out. The rest had already gone into hibernation.

 

Now that is some smart thinking. It keeps a constant temperature of about 60 degrees year round, and give them an escape from the heat of the day if they choose also.

  

Every habitat has these pipes in them, to allow any animal a place to get away from it all!

I think it's kind of like me, in my sewing room.

LOL!!

Snoozing in the warm sun!

 

Reading the signs and hearing the stories of how these animals happened to come here was as shocking as it was, sad to me.

 

In the distance you can see they are building a new visitor entrance. It's gonna be a monster size one too.  But... it's at least another mile away. That will make this walk a 2 mile walk each way.

I just might have to consider volunteering here. Not only for the animals but for a bit of exercise myself.  LOL!

 

Not everything is a big cat here...

But they definitely stole my heart!

 

These are all here due to some kind of abuse, or neglect. They were all either starved or beaten to perform in most cases, for people. 

Why is my question? When you see the face of the guy above, it breaks you heart.

There was no smoking on the property.

2 of the bears were addicted to nicotine.

Can you imagine? They were taught to perform to get their next fix.

Smokers know how hard it is to quit. Imagine an animal, 

who doesn't really understand what's is going on. 

Wow, is about the only thing I can say!

Hope you enjoyed my little trip to the Wildlife Sanctuary.

It was sure an eye opener for me

and I plan to go back very soon.

:-)

Now if this day could get any better...

This harvest moon was the perfect end!