Tessa Stripes is our newest animal keeper here at Carolina Tiger Rescue. She studied wildlife biology at Virginia Tech. Before coming to Carolina Tiger Rescue, she interned at Wildlife Safari. Her favorite animals to work with are tigers! She enjoys giving the animals at Carolina Tiger Rescue a safe and appropriate home for them. It’s a hard and dirty job, but she loves it! Her favorite time of year at the rescue is the fall, when all the animals get pumpkins for enrichment!
Keeper Tessa’s Blog 5/2/19
With the changing seasons, came changes of scenery for a few animals at Carolina Tiger Rescue. Not only has spring hit the sanctuary, but Macano Coatimundi, Beau Cougar, Ranger Bobcat, and Talon Bobcat all moved to new enclosures in the span of a week!
This game of musical enclosures required the help of many volunteers and staff members and the cooperation of our animals. In the end, they are all enjoying their new spaces.
Talon Bobcat was the first to move. He moved from his old enclosure next to Electra Caracal in Pear Orchard over to Petee Ocelot’s former home on Cherry Lane across from Elvis Serval. Petee passed away in early April from multiple organ failure. It’s always hard to lose one of our residents and Petee is greatly missed. I am thankful that his enclosure will continue to bring joy to one of our rescued animals, though, instead of sitting empty. Talon is loving the new space and settling in very well.
With Talon’s old enclosure then available, Beau Cougar moved into Pear Orchard that same day and got a new view of the sanctuary! Beau Cougar and Ranger Bobcat are our only wild-born animals. Beau was abandoned in the wild, picked up by wildlife officers in Washington state, and made his way to Carolina Tiger Rescue, his forever home. He is not on the tour route because he does not want a lot of visitors, but he has done a great job getting used to his new home. He recently took treats from one of our keepers!
Macano Coatimundi has moved from his winter home to his summer home! Coatimundis live in South America, so Macano can not handle our winters as well as our other animals. He is moved indoors in the cooler months. He spent the winter in an enclosure in the Vet Office with many visits from staff to keep him company. Now, he moved to Elm Grove out in the sanctuary. He is still off-tour, but loves to come out and visit with staff members and volunteers who stop by to say hello. The above picture is from my recent visit with Macano and he seems very happy in his new outdoor space!
Last but not least, Ranger Bobcat, our newest resident, was cleared from quarantine. Yay, Ranger! So, he needed a new home outside in the sanctuary. We lost Oliver Ocelot in March and his enclosure was sitting empty in Elm Grove waiting for its new resident. Ranger moved into Oliver’s former enclosure next to Magoo Ocelot. This is one of my favorite spots in the sanctuary and I hope Ranger loves it too! It is quite peaceful and should help him further settle in to his new home here at Carolina Tiger Rescue.
When our animals move into a new enclosure, they not only get to experience a new space, but also all of the new surfaces and features of the enclosure. For example, the picture to the left is of a cool structure in Macano’s new enclosure. It looks like it would be so fun to climb those platforms and look out over his new home!
I hope the animals all continue to explore and enjoy their new spaces!