[FEL-L] Turpentine Creek - Cougars Moved to Refuge

[BigCatSimba at aol.com]

YELLVILLE - It was like "The Crocodile Hunter Ozark Style." Though crocodiles 
have not shown up in the Buffalo or White rivers (yet), and no cries of 
"Crikey!" were heard, all the elements were there to remind one of the popular 
wildlife documentary television series that starred the late Steve Irwin.
There were the khaki shorts and shirts, a man with tousled blond hair, terms 
of endearment spoken to a wild creature that could easily inflict great bodily 
harm and the efforts to preserve said creature who was only doing what came 
naturally.
"Hey, pretty girl," Tanya Smith cooed to Sasha, a five and a half-year-old 
female cougar.
Sasha's long, yellow-tinted incisors were separated from Smith's face by only 
a few inches and sturdy, chain-linked fence. Smith, though, showed no fear as 
she attempted to soothe the agitated lion. Sasha's ear flattened and her eyes 
became slits as she hissed and bared her fangs at Smith. Smith turned her 
attention to Sasha's companion, a male named Wishbone, who paced back and forth 
at the end of the cage the two shared.
"Hey, handsome," Smith said to Wishbone, whose tawny coat shimmered in the 
morning sun. Wishbone stared back intently at Smith with pale green eyes.
Smith is the president of Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge in Eureka Springs. 
Along with her husband, Scott, she was at the Brent and Jamie Marshall home a 
ome a few miles south of Yellville on July 6. For the past five years, Sasha 
and Wishbone had been pets of the Marshalls, but an impending move made it 
impossible to take the lions along. Contacted by the Marshalls, Turpentine Creek, 
which touts itself as the largest big cat refuge in the world, agreed to 
rescue Sasha and Wishbone.
>From Yellville, the cougars would be transported to their new home at the 
refuge, where they would become the 113th and 114th feline residents.
Care and caution had to be used in transporting Sasha and Wishbone to 
Turpentine Creek. A reminder of their wild nature came earlier that morning before 
the Smiths arrived. Brent Marshall, wanting to say good-bye to the cougars that 
he had raised from cubs, entered the enclosure that housed Sasha and Wishbone. 
Marshall said that he has raised similar cats for nine years without any 
incident. However, on that morning, Wishbone, who weighs in the neighborhood of 
150 pounds, attacked Marshall, leaving deep lacerations in his neck. Marshall 
would be airlifted to Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home. 
Marshall's wounds were not serious and he was able to come home by the weekend.
Despite being attacked by Wishbone, Marshall hated to see him and Sasha leave.
"I'm real sad. They were my babies," Marshall said. As he held the long pole 
with the seditive-filled needle attached to the end, Scott Smith paid Wishbone 
and Sasha the respect that they deserved. Though he considered it tragic, 
Scott Smith didn't blame Wishbone for his attack on Marshall. It was just his 
nature.
"People should not own big cats as pets," Scott Smith said. "No wild animal 
should be a pet, especially mountain lions and bobcats. They're all extremely 
dangerous animals."
According to Tanya Smith, many people buy lions and tigers as fuzzy little 
cubs, not taking into account the problems encountered with a mature animal.
"They think 'They're just the cutest little things,' but they grow up into 
big cats," she said. 
Sticking the pole through the fence, Scott Smith managed to jab the needle 
through Wishbone's coat. Within 20 minutes, the sedative began to take effect. 
Wishbone was like a punch-drunk fighter, stumbling and staggering around the 
cage until finally he fell over and passed out on the dirt. A hissing and 
fang-bearing Sasha had no intentions of going so easily. It took several minutes of 
cajoling and maneuvering to get her into a position close enough for Scott 
Smith to jab her with the needle. The prick only seemed to enrage her more and 
she paced rapidly back and forth before she, too, was overcome by the sedative. 
Falling next to Wishbone, Sasha slept peacefully.
With the cougars passed out, the Smiths, along with three Arkansas Game and 
Fish officers sprang into action.
Scott Smith checked the cats' breathing and gums and found them to be in good 
shape. The Marshalls had treated them well, something that he didn't always 
find when rescuing a cat. They would probably be out for two and a half hours, 
Scott Smith said.
Wishbone was rolled over onto a blanket, and the four men lifted it up.
"Okay, buddy, let's go for a ride," someone said and the men carried the 
oblivious Wishbone to a waiting trailer.
As Scott Smith rolled Sasha over, a slight gurgle came from her mouth. Sasha 
was just barely under, he said.
"She's growling," Scott Smith said. "That's good, though. The less (sedative) 
you have to give them, the better.
" Sasha was a smaller than average female, weighing about 50 pounds. It took 
only two of the men to carry her to the trailer.
"She's growling," said one of the Game and Fish officers as he carried Sasha, 
"or snoring."
Joining Sasha and Wishbone in the trailer, occupying his own separate 
compartment was Bowden, an African serval. Bowden was a long-legged, spotted and 
striped cat with big pointed ears and, unlike Sasha and Wishbone, he was very much 
awake and active.
Scott Smith said that by the afternoon, the cougars would be in a quarantine 
cage at Turpentine Creek after having been checked out by a veterinarian. The 
refuge was making a huge commitment by taking in Sasha and Wishbone for the 
rest of their lives. Whereas cougars in the wild might live eight to ten years, 
Scott Smith said, cougars at Turpentine Creek might live as long as 20 years 
or more.
On their way back to Eureka Springs, the Smiths stopped at the Marion County 
Library in Yellville, where they gave a presentation to about 30 children and 
parents.
While Bowden paced back and forth, emitting wide-mouthed hisses at his 
audience, the Smiths told of the work done at Turpentine Creek.
At one point, Wishbone stirred, the effects of the sedative beginning to wear 
off. Shaking the cobwebs from his head, Wishbone stared sleepily at the young 
human faces that stared back at him in wonder.
Seeing nothing that really interested him, Wishbone put his head down and 
closed his eyes. It had been a long day and he was so-o-o sleepy.
For more information about Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, call 
479-253-5841 or go to _www.tigers.tc_ (http://www.tigers.tc) . 
 
Pics on Web Site below >>
 
_http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18578791&BRD=1815&PAG=461&dept_id=5
16928&rfi=6_ (http://www.zwire.com/sit
e/news.cfm?newsid=18578791&BRD=1815&PAG=461&dept_id=516928&rfi=6) 



************************************** Get a sneak peak of the all-new AOL at 
http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.breuckman.com/pipermail/felines-l/attachments/20070712/701724a3/attachment.html