How Jake became a Tiger Toy

  On Saturday we went to this great place on the north side of Jacksonville called the Catty Shack Ranch.  It is a rescue and refuge for big cats – lions, tigers, leopards, cougars, etc.   It isn’t pretty like a zoo, but the animals are safe and loved there.  Some of the cats have been rescued from illegal zoos, been mistreated, or even been pets that became their natural selves and “too wild” for the people who bought them.

  The first cat was a lion that had been rejected by his mom after he was born. The owner of the ranch stepped in and raised him – bottle fed him, bathed him, and loved him. It was amazing to see this huge lion jump up and run over and start loving on his “daddy” when the guy walked into his enclosure. I swear that cat was purring.

 

The next cats were tigers.  There were so many of them! Apparently, tigers are popular exotic pets, but no one really knows how to take care of them, so they end up in places like this.

One tiger really loved Jake. He would follow the stroller wherever we pushed it, even to the point of stepping on other tigers!   I thought it was funny – until the keeper explained that the tiger thought Jake would make a great toy – he was the perfect size.  He didn’t necessarily want to eat him, just play with him.  I don’t think that’s a playdate I’ll be setting up.

Jake thought it was pretty funny.  You can tell he’s really not bothered by that cat stalking him.

 

The next cats that chose my kids were the cougars.  The keeper told Emma to meow at them. She did, and they answered! It was so neat, and they had quite a conversation. I can only imagine what they were saying.

 

There were so many cats there, it breaks my heart to think of the horrors some of these guys went through before they were rescued. At least they are well fed and loved at the ranch, and comfortable:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They even like to pose for pictures:

 

 

  They don’t have tours all the time, only on select weekends; but if you have free time on one of those weekends I hope you’ll stop by and visit these awesome kitties.  You can find more information about them and their ranch at the website: www.cattyshack.org.  Maybe we’ll see you there!