When Rose Was Born She Reminded Me of a Rosebud

 

(The last photo of Momma Jacquie and me dated 2/11/13.  This was the day we moved her from Aunt Carole’s condo to the Cougar Camp at Big Cat Rescue to live with my parents)

 

Tiny, delicate and fiery red. But a name like Rosebud conjures up cows, so Rose became her name.  She was born into a chaotic time at the sanctuary, so I didn't get to spend much time enjoying her kittenish ways. It was a decade before we were on solid footing at Big Cat Rescue and I finally had the chance to just observe her.

 

I envy the time our volunteers spend with the cats. It's a luxury I've rarely been able to afford. In a rare moment, where no one was pulling at me to deal with a personnel issue nor answer a phone call, I walked past Jamie who was trying to comb a knot from Rose's fur. Jamie was using the telescoping back scratcher.

 

At first I hurried on by, but then turned around, deciding this was a great teaching moment, to show through a video how we groom the cats. It's possible to give the cats some pleasure without risking a bite or scratch. Rose was clearly loving the good scratching she was getting in that hard to reach area behind her ears. I'm glad stopped and enjoyed this precious moment in time. In just another day or two Rose was gone.

 

Never a Boring Moment – Escaped White Tiger “Sighting”

 

I was about nine years old and was perched in the highest branches of the pine tree next to our home on Larwood Dr. in Charleston, WV, looking out toward the airport where my father was the private pilot for Gov. Arch Moore.  It was my favorite spot.  I could see for miles across the hills and valleys.  I was watching planes take off and land at long intervals.  I was bored out of my mind.  “God,” I implored, “never let me be this bored again!”

 

Well you have to be careful what you ask for because I don’t think there has been a boring moment since.  Today was one of the weirder days.

 

At 1:24 am the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office called me (apparently) but my ringer was off, so they called our Operations Manager, Gale, and said that a caller had reported a white tiger loose on Van Dyke Road and they wanted her to see if our tigers were all here.  Gale did the rounds, even though we only have one white tiger, just to be sure that all of the cats were accounted for.  Thankfully, she didn’t bother me with it and let me sleep.

 

At 8:52, 8:56 and 9:00 am I get (and miss) three calls back to back from Tallahassee, but I am out cleaning litter boxes and the caller didn’t leave a message, so I am unaware, until just now, that these calls were in my “Recent Calls” list.  Probably the Florida Wildlife Commission.  850 717-14XX

 

At 9:06 am I get a call (also missed) from the Homestead area 305 247-80XX and they didn’t leave a message this time, but I see that the same number did leave a message at 1:25 am, saying that they were a Deputy with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office reporting a white tiger sighting on Van Dyke Road in NW Tampa.  I find it odd that a sheriff’s deputy in Tampa would have a Homestead area code, so I call the real Hillsborough County Sheriff.

 

I tell them who I am and about the call and the Captain said they did get such a call last night, but that he has no idea who called me or why they would have a Homestead area code on their phone. No one else has reported the white tiger and we all just figure it was a drunk or a prank caller. Our enemies, the people who abuse big cats for a living, think it is fun to annoy us and the local police with their stupidity on a regular basis.

 

I told him that we have a new, high power dart rifle if they do see a cat and that we would be happy to help them capture the cat alive.  I texted Gale after the call and that’s when she told me that she had been called in the middle of the night and had done her head count.

 

At 11:11 am I get a call from 813 735-93XX and it is a young man who is telling me that he was the cal