Changing Seasons
October 3, 2017
Summer is over and soon the leaves will change into a mesmerizing spectrum of color, painting the Ozark mountains in a beautiful array of vibrant reds, yellows, oranges, and browns. Current predictions for the peak of the fall colors this year is around October 31 – November 6.
Fall is one of the better times to visit Turpentine Creek. The animals enjoy the cooler fall days and many visitors find that the animals are the most active in the fall or spring.
The falling leaves also offer a fun seasonal enrichment for the animals that call our refuge home. The cats enjoy pouncing in leaf piles and our bears get a chance to forage and snack on fallen acorns. Seasonal donations also come in. It is a lot of fun to watch a big cat ‘kill’ a pumpkin, or Bam Bam try to use a pumpkin as a balance ball, only for it to get squished under his weight.
Our bears might be slowing down a little bit due to the cooler temperatures but they still come out daily to forage and enjoy the fading sunshine. Since we feed our bears year-round they never truly go into hibernation. They slow down and sleep most of the day, only getting up long enough to eat. This won’t happen until the end of fall or early winter. Until then the bears still come out to entertain our visitors with their funny antics.
We also offer a few unique activities during the fall season. On October 28, 2017, from 7 pm – 9 pm CST, Turpentine Creek will host our annual Howl-O-Ween Spooktacular event. This is the only time of the year that our visitors can visit the animals after dark. We offer a variety of fun activities for the kids, a hayride tour of our animals, and a scary stroll through our bear tunnel.
This year we are also having a special celebration on October 27th, 2017, at 1 pm CST, we will also be hosting a groundbreaking kickoff for our newest project, a new Visitor Education Center. This new center will include many things such as a small cafe, a large multipurpose room, a gift shop, and much more! This will help us accommodate more visitors and educate the public about the plight of big cats in captivity.
You can help us make fall the best season for the animals by donating towards enrichment or special treats for the animals. Donate now and help us, help them. Also, keep an eye out for fall lodging specials on Groupon! We are offering some seasonal discounted rates on Groupon. Those rates are subject to availability.
So, gather up your favorite Turpentine Creek hoodie, and make plans to come visit the animals this fall. If you can’t make it out then watch our Facebook page for pictures of fall enrichment that will be coming soon!