Big Changes Happening on the Lodging Habitat

August 26, 2016

We are always progressing at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. Construction is a constant way of life at the refuge. We build bigger and better habitats for our animals, improve old habitats, rebuild habitats, build benches, we build and build and build.

Our most recent project involved a major upgrade to our habitats, raising the fence height and fixing old habitats. This project is nearly completed after over a year of hard work.

The rebuild included the habitats that were located next to our lodging options. This was a very BIG part of the project. We began the update/upgrade/rebuild of the lodging habitat in June, with hopes it would be a quick update and move on. But the project has seen some delays. Inclement weather, new rescues, other habitat needs, and the vet hospital grand opening has caused some significant delays this rebuild.

We are so VERY close to finishing this habitat… days away from completing welding and then we have to finish painting it and getting the interior ready for the new inhabitant(s). Soon we will be moving animal(s) back into the lodging habitats.

Past lodging guests will notice a BIG difference in this lodging habitat, what used to be three habitats (Miss Emmy, Thor, Donna and Pebbles) will now be one BIG habitat. We made the choice to combine habitats because we want our animals to have a lot of space to run and play. So, with some hard work and creativity, the three old habitats have become one big, beautiful, grassy habitat.

We have knocked down two of the three dens, that used to be located in the area, to accomplish this habitat combination, and we also created a walking path between to two largest habitats.

We are still deciding on what animal(s) will call this habitat home once construction is complete. When it comes time to move an animal(s) into the habitat Emily McCormack, our animal curator, will evaluate each animal’s needs and choose the animal(s) that needs the habitat most. Many of our animals are sharing habitats, alternating days of habitat use. Moving an animal from one of those ‘double’ habitats will give two (or two sets of) animals the chance to enjoy a habitat daily.

We are sorry for the inconvenience to our lodging guests, but this update was required for the safety of our animals. No matter what room you are staying in, you can still hear the animals at night and view the animals throughout the day. Our animals safety and happiness is our biggest priority.

Giving Tuesday Final Report

Wow, Giving Tuesday showed us how dedicated our supporters are! This year we set a really high goal, $158,000 which is approximately what it costs to run Turpentine Creek for one month. Although we did not meet that goal we did have an amazing day full of wonderful comments and generous donations!

Through Facebook, Twitter, Razoo, call in donations, mail in donations, and wonderful in-person donors we hit a remarkable $17,829 raised ($11,467 on just Dec. 1^st). It was amazing to see our supporters rallying behind us and helping us bring in the money needed to see us through the end of the year.

Mickey Gilley Benefit Concert in Branson, MO on Dec. 1st 2015.

Beyond just our online efforts Mickey Gilley hosted a benefit concert to help us raise funds. By the end of the night through ticket purchases, donations, and a wonderful donation by Mickey Gilley himself we raised an additional $5,000 from that concert alone, bringing our grand total up to $22,829!

What an amazing team we have behind us! Most of the donations that made up this total were less than $50! That means hundreds of people showed their support and stood behind Turpentine Creek and our mission to save big cats.

Thank you everyone for your support! You are all amazing people. Without you we wouldn’t be able to do what we do and rescue these wonderful animals.

The compound is nothing but dust and memories now. We have done it, the compound has been crashed!

We have demolished all the old “compound” area and all of our animals are in spacious, grassy habitats!

The old habitats served their purpose, saving hundreds of animals lives, but we no longer need them. All of our animals are now in quarter to half acre habitats. They have plenty of room to roam and enjoy their lives, experiencing their own little taste of freedom. All animals that we rescue from here on out will go directly into a habitat.

Demolition started Sept. 17th. All that is left standing is the green vet clinic, and that too will soon be nothing more than a memory.

To celebrate this accomplishment we will be having a “Compound Crashing Celebration” on Nov. 14th, 2015. So please join us while we celebrate this milestone and the bright future ahead of us for all the animals that we rescue.

http://purchase.downtownbentonville.org/collections/tickets/products/walmart-museum-presents-wes-mcgee-saturday-june-13-at-6-30pm

Wednesday was a great day to be a coatimundi. For years, Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge’s sole coati, Flip, has been dwelling in a concrete habitat behind the gift shop in the old compound area, bringing smiles to the faces of every visitor to the refuge.

But that changed Wednesday, when Flip was moved into her own grassy habitat for the first time. The area, next to the main office and adjacent to the Siberian and Bengal suites, has fencing that goes a foot into the ground, to prevent her digging out.

“We used to give her tubsful of dirt to dig in, earthworms to find, in her old enclosure,” says Curator Emily McCormack. “Coatis love to dig for worms. Now she can do it for real.”

Coatis are cousins to the raccoon family and are native to South America, Central America, and south-western North America. They are omnivores, eating both meat and plants. In the wild, they eat fruits, berries, insects, birds, eggs, lizards, and even snakes and small mammals like mice and squirrels. They use their long, probe-like nose for searching through leaves, crevices, and holes to find their favorite foods. The long claws on their feet are good for tearing apart rotting logs.

“In 2009, we received an email from a man representing a facility formally open to the public in Branson,” McCormack says. “Because of some problems, they had to part with seven big cats, a black bear, and a coatimundi – Flip — to be eligible to reopen to the public. So she came to us. In Branson, she was forced to exist in what was intended as a reptile habitat, concrete and glass. We were glad to get her out of there, and we’re even happier now to give her her own big grassy habitat.”

Flip seems to agree.

As Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge continues to change and grow, different habitat spaces open and the big cats are moved around. When possible, they share spaces together. So recently, TCWR staff introduced Sheba, a cougar who came here in 2007 and has been on concrete ever since, into the habitat shared by Suli and Luna, who are both older females who have been sharing the same space for quite some time.

“They all came in as single females, but we’ve been really successful with cougar introductions,” said TCWR Curator Emily McCormack. “Suli has always been the dominant one between her and Luna, so we were interested in how Sheba would relate to her.”

McCormack says on introduction, Suli immediately approached Sheba. “They ‘talked,’” she said. “Ears back, hissing, some batting at each other with their paws – they were all de-clawed before they came to Turpentine Creek, otherwise we wouldn’t put them together. Then Luna came over and it was the same story. They met and eventually all went back to their dens. Interestingly, though, Sheba, the new girl, is now the dominant one. The others kow-towed to her.”

Meanwhile, across the refuge, two African Servals have been playing meet ‘n greet. Bowden, a male Serval from St. Louis who has been at Turpentine Creek since 2001, has been getting to know the newest arrival, Pickles, a female who was recently brought to the refuge from Prairie Grove, Arkansas.

“So far Bowden and Pickles have been on two ‘dates,’” McCormack said. “We are getting them used to each other, so we put Pickles in her big pet carrier up alongside Bowden’s cage, to see how they’d react. They both hissed at each other, as usual, but then Bowden looked like he wanted to play. Pickles sort of looked past him and seemed to be paying more attention to all Bowden’s toys than to Bowden himself! She has a great personality. They both seemed very comfortable.

McCormack said their second ‘date’ went as well as well as the first, if not better. “Bowden walked right over to Pickles’ cage to say hi. They didn’t even have their ears back. They just laid down by each other chillin’ out.”

She says the two Servals will start sharing the same habitat within a few days.