Carole Baskins Diary

NYC held an epic hearing on banning circus acts that use wild animals.

Jen came into my office, about 2 hours into the testimony and said I needed to hear how they were tearing Ringling apart.  By the time I got Wirecast set to LIVE stream it the grilling of Tom Albert, Lacey their tiger trainer, UniverSoul Ops Mgr and The Big Apple clown, were off the stage and it was another 3 hours of public testimony, mostly in support of the ban.  I recorded it because I think the day will come when it will be one of those turning points.

 

I’m so happy and grateful that people are speaking out, from all walks of life, about the abuses inherent in making wild animals perform.

 

It makes me optimistic that we can drop our exemption for the circus from our bill.

 

I’ve been energized by the outpouring of support for Big Cat Rescue from the community, through the voting contests we’ve been winning, like Animalitarian of the Year, and the Valspar Golf contest that netted us about $55k combined.

 

Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and I’ve been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.  

 

You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile!

Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile

 

You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org

 

Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue

 

Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.  Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk

Jumanji lost his battle with kidney disease and was euthanized today.

Oct 15, 2016 Jumanji was noted in the evening to have left his tuna ‘cicle uneaten.  That was a pretty clear sign that something was wrong.  I let Jamie and Dr. Justin know but since he was laying in the bushes, with his head up, I didn’t think it was an emergency.  I was hungry and exhausted and running out of daylight to get home on my bicycle.  Just as I turned onto the last leg of my ride home, Jamie texted and said they were worried about Jumanji and were going in to check on him.  I told her I’d go with them, and did.

 

By the time we returned to the sanctuary we were just about out of light and everyone was leaving for the day.  Gale was doing a family outing an hour away.  Lauren was house sitting for a former employee.  The interns were all locked outside the gates for the night.  It would be just the three of us to try and figure out what to do.

 

The golf cart had no lights and the windscreen, which has been broken years ago, was zip tied to the frame.  Holding a flashlight outside the cart, and pointed ahead, just barely made the tour path visible, because the windscreen was so marred from years of gravel induced scratches.  It was overcast and raining a bit, so there was no star or moon light.  Jamie tried and tried to call Jumanji to the side of the cage so we could check his dehydration level and possible give him fluids.  We knew it was bad when he couldn’t stand, despite trying.

 

I left her to continue calling him and went after a bucket (so he might think there would be food involved), 3 nets, a Y pole (to hold his head away from biting the vet), gloves, a cordless shaver, so we could shave a spot and draw blood, and a pile of blankets, towels and a carry tarp.  Meanwhile she and Dr. Justin determined that there was no way Jumanji was going to come to the side, so they sent me back for a carrier big enough for a leopard, that would fit through the door.

 

Jumanji was so “down” that we feared sedating him would kill him, so we decided to go in and see if we could hold him down with the nets and Y pole well enough for Dr. Justin to draw blood and give him fluids.

 

Jumanji said, “NO!” He wasn’t aggressive about it, but he made it clear that his good humor could turn ugly if we kept a net on his head.

 

We decided to try and corral him into the dog carrier but he couldn’t stand well enough to get him moving the foot or so into the pet taxi.  We worked a carry tarp under him and he was sick enough and upset enough to vomit all over one end of it three times.  We couldn’t go near his face, so Dr. Justin looped the Y pole through the two loops at his head, while Jamie and I lifted the back end, and tried to push him into the transport.

 

He decided the whole idea of being forced into the carrier was beneath him, no matter how bad he felt, he wasn’t going.  He growled his displeasure and bit at the carry tarp, but the geometry of the situation wasn’t working.  We just couldn’t get a good angle on lifting him, without having a person right in his face, and we couldn’t risk that.  Dr. Justin left to load up a needle to sedate him.  It was a last resort, because the sedation alone could kill Jumanji, but we had to treat him.

 

8:09 PM While he was drifting off to sleep (25 minutes) Dr. Justin went to get the X-ray machine running.  We don’t have access to 3 Phase power here, so we have a generator.  When he flipped the switch, nothing happened.  None of us have ever had anything to do with the generator maintenance and didn’t have any idea what we were doing, but Dr. Justin noticed a panel that said we were low on fuel.  This generator is about the size of a Volkswagon, so I have no idea how much fuel it takes to run the thing, or who is in charge of keeping it filled, but I called Scott Haller and asked if we have any Diesel on property.  He directed me to our stash and after a few failed attempts with the container, Dr. Justin finally

Photos on Dad’s cell phone after he died.

I sent this email and the photos to Mom, Jamie and Chuck.

 

Jamie cracked her screen right before the trip to Africa, so she took Dad's old phone with her, just in case her's quit working.  Yesterday she gave it back to me to turn off and erase, but said there were some photos on it that I might want to save.  She said there was a cute one of Mom.

 

There is a really cute photo of Mom, (dated July 25, 2016) but I'm sending you the other photos too, as these were, to my knowledge, the only photos Dad ever took with a phone.  I smile to think about him slowly adapting to the ever changing technology around him.

 

After making sure I'd safely moved the photos to my computer, I went to hit erase on his phone.  I couldn't do it.  I had several more failed attempts before I was finally able to cut this last tie.  He doesn't need a piece of metal and silicon to speak to us any more, but it was one of those unexpected, painful moments, that caught me by surprise.

 

If anyone knows the story behind these photos, I'd be interested to hear it.  I think that trailer was the one on Jean Carson's property.  Maybe he was thinking about cleaning it up and going on vacation, even back then.

 

Chuck responded:

 

The travel trailer was Dad being funny. He and I were on our way down Easy St. on his golf cart to get fuel for the mowers. Jamie and Justin were looking at buying their first trailer when Dad said take a picture of that one and tell Jamie to stop looking we had found the perfect one for them.

 

The photos of the Funcation roof assembly was just so we would not forget HOW we were achieving the product. 

 

I did not take that photo of Mom. She never smiled like that for anyone but Dad.

 

I’m thankful that Bill and Kiz gave the go ahead to announce the rescue.

This is what I shared on our website and social sites today:  https://bigcatrescue.org/oct-15-2016/

Four Tigers Coming to Big Cat Rescue

 

Big Cat Rescue is participating in a significant cross-country rescue spearheaded by Tigers in America and Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge with the participation and support of the larger community of Tigers in America Sanctuaries.

 

We expect to give new lifetime homes to 4 new tigers. Because of the sensitive nature of this project, we have been asked to keep further details under wraps until the safety of all the cats at risk can be assured. There are many challenges because of the size and scope of this effort.

 

We are pleased to be a major part of such an important and ground-breaking mission!  Help fund their rescue, the cage modifications we are doing to accommodate them and their ongoing care here: BigCatRescue.org/donate

 

I’m grateful that my mother responded kindly to my email yesterday.  She merely said that she appreciated that I sent the link to her.  I sort of expected to be dis-owned.  I’ve always thought her belief in the Bible to be something so strong that she wouldn’t even be able to consider any outside evidence.

 

I am thankful that Jamie and Justin survived great white shark diving while in S. Africa.  Just yesterday was a pretty scary image and story of a great while busting through one of those tourist cages. Jamie’s story of the man in the cage vomiting uncontrollably into the water around them made me wonder how that is any different than chumming with blood.

 

Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and I’ve been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize the

BIG CAT PROTECTION IS A FAMILY TRADITION

I remember that it was at church, many years ago, when my mother handed me a copy of National Geographic.  She said it was a cousin of mine and commented on the strange coincidence that he and I both loved exotic cats so much.

 

On the cover of the magazine was a young man, holding a tranquilized cougar in the snow.  The story inside was about mountain lion researcher who had been tracking the elusive big cats in Yellowstone National Park when he was killed in an avalanche.  A couple years later this article appeared in Yellowstone Science.  Somewhere, I surely still have that Nat Geo Magazine, but I don’t know where.  It had been filed away and I didn’t think much about this long lost cousin until today.

 

Gregory Felzien would have been fifty this year.  As I began researching the web, looking for details of his story and his photo, I was stunned to be reminded that he had died in February of 1992.  That was about three months before Windsong the bobcat was born, and 9 months before Windsong’s rescue from a taxidermist would launch the world renown organization that is saving exotic cats, that is now known as Big Cat Rescue.  This was Greg’s story:

 

Gregory Felzien Dies in Yellowstone Avalanche

 

From: The Jackson Hole Guide

 

A 26-year old Ohio man was killed in an avalanche in Yellowstone National Park Saturday while tracking mountain lions in the Lamar Valley area.  Gregory Felzien of Bellbrook, Ohio was conducting mountain lion research activities in Yellowstone for the Wildlife Research Institute, affiliated with the University of Idaho at Moscow, according to Park Superintendent Bob Barbee.

 

After Felzien was reported missing Saturday evening, an air and ground search began Sunday morning, Barbee said.  Searchers found Felzien’s car parked along the road, south of Pebble Creek Camground and near Mt. Norris, according to park Spokeswoman Marsha Karle.  They followed Felzien’s foot tracks through a minimal snow cover and located his body in the avalanche area Sunday at about 2:26 p.m., Karle said. The avalanche path was about 30 feet wide, 300 feet long and five feet deep, she said.

 

Felzien’s body was transported by helicopter to the Buffalo Ranch in the Lamar Valley and then by ground to the Franzen-Davis-Bebee Mortuary in Livingston, Mont., according to Barbee.  Officials blamed the slide on early spring weather, which resulted in extremely hazardous backcountry snow conditions.  http://www.jhavalanche.org/fatalArticles/article/Felzien

 

The Family of Cat Protectors

 

Thanks to Ancestry.com and the fact that Gregory’s aunt LaDonna is still alive and was probably the one to give the magazine to my mother back 20 plus years ago, I was able to trace the connection between us.  My mother, Mary Barbara Jean Norris Stairs, was born to Jaqueline Thompson Norris, who was born to Goldie Higginbotham, who was the sister to Grace Higginbotham, who was married to Floyd Grant Felzien, who were the parents of Grant Felzien, who was the father to Gregory S. Felzien.

 

Grace and Floyd Felzien had 4 children. LaDonna, Grant, Terry (who tragically died at age 20 in a car accident), and another daughter named Lorna. LaDonna's oldest son, JimPat named his son Gregory, after Greg Felzien because they were first cousins and very close.  Everyone who knew him loved him.

 

So, Gregory, I have no doubt that you are with us every step of the way now, and surely have been for all these decades.  I have to believe that you live on in all of us who are working to save wild cats from extinction by ending the captive trade that provides the smokescreen for illegal poaching.   My awe at your dedication and sacrifice to protect some of the world’s most exquisite creatures is renewed today, and gratitude fills my heart.

 

Email to my mother, I think?

 

I don't mean to shake your faith, and I don't think this will, because a person either believes the Bible, based on faith, or they don't.

 

I beli

PETA sues Dade City’s Wild Things I am very happy to get this email today: Subject: DCWT ESA suit is filed Attached please find the file stamped copy of the ESA lawsuit against DCWT (filed today). Thanks, everyone, for your efforts on this. PETA Foundation The basis of the complaint is that using tiger cubs for handling is a violation of the Animal Welfare Act and Endangered Species Act that prohibits “take” and “harassment”. If they win, this will be groundbreaking and will put an end to the use of the endangered species that are currently mis handled this way. If only we had been successful at CITES in getting the lions uplifted to protect them too.

 

Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and I’ve been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.  

 

You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile!

Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile

 

You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org

 

Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue

 

Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.  Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk

TripAdvisor & Viator End Cub Handling Ticket Sale Schemes

TripAdvisor and its Viator brand will discontinue selling tickets for specific tourism experiences where travelers come into physical contact with captive wild animals or endangered species, including but not limited to elephant rides, petting tigers, and swim with dolphin attractions.

 

Hundreds of Animal Attractions Where Tourists Come into Physical Contact with Captive Wild Animals or Endangered Species Will No Longer Be Bookable on TripAdvisor or Viator

 

With endorsements from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), TripAdvisor to create a wildlife tourism education portal for travelers in partnership with top accredited trade groups, conservation organizations, academic experts, tourism experts, and animal welfare groups, including the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, ABTA – The Travel Association, Global Wildlife Conservation, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), Sustainable Travel International, The TreadRight Foundation, Think Elephants International, Asian Elephant Support, Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and World Animal Protection.  Read more:

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/PressCenter-i7796-c1-Press_Releases.html

 

Big Cat Rescue Wins BOCC Decision 5-0

 

On Oct 7 we asked local residents to help us stop a dangerous change to our Tampabay Trail that could negatively impact our access.  https://bigcatrescue.org/oct-7-2016/  Thanks to your calls, letters and those who attended the Board of County Commissioner’s meeting yesterday, we won 5-0.

 

Howie and I celebrated with champaign!  I’m so happy that I just can’t contain myself.

 

Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and I’ve been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.  

 

You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile!

Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile

 

You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org

 

Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue

 

Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.  Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk

We agreed to take two pairs of tigers from their situation.  One from Antle and one from ZAA leader, Tanganyika.

 

With Jamie’s approval, I told Bobbi Brink we would take the:

 

1 leopard

2 cougars

4 bobcats

1 Canada lynx

 

and amazingly the state of Florida issued an emergency permit, as Bobbi is loading them up as we speak in SD and it's snowing.  I told her we would cover the transport cost of 3.00 a mile, plus her hotels, etc. so that's probably about $7,000

 

FL & USDA require the cats arrive w/ health certificates, but it only has to be a visual by a vet saying they were breathing.  Bobbi is trying to get a vet out to Spirit of the Hills to issue one and I'm guessing will be on her way here first as we are probably most of her load.  She's taking a Serval and Jungle Cat back to CA with her from SD.

 

Let me know what kind of time table you are wanting on the four tigers and who I should list on the import permit as the person transferring them, ie: Turpentine or Serenity? address, phone, and the carrier.  FWC likes to have someone they can call to verify the origin.  Will that be Loving Friends or Bobbi?

 

In either event, FWC requires that I meet them at the FL / GA border and escort them in under my FWC permit.

 

For the cats,

 

Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue

 

Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and I’ve been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.  

 

You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile!

Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile

 

You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org

 

Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue

 

Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.  Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk

My intention today is to find a way to accommodate 4 tigers from Serenity Springs.

I think we can modify some of the old bobcat and caracal cages to move the cougars Mac, Reise, Mickey and Aspen Echo.  That would enable us to move 4 tigers into areas that already have tunnels to Vacation Rotation.

 

I am thankful for the opportunity to re connect with God in a more personal and spiritual way.

 

Yesterday I was listening to Gabrielle Bernstein’s book, The Universe Has Your Back, and she was saying you should ask for a sign to let you know you are on the right path.  I was raised to believe that you should never ask God to show you a sign, so I never have.  She just kept hammering away at how important the feedback loop between God and us is, and I was beginning to waiver in my conviction NOT to ask for a sign.

 

As I rolled my bike up to the Gift Shop to check my mail, I prayed, “Lord, you know I have trouble with my weight.  I’m handing that over to you.  Show me a sign that you can handle it.”

 

Walking into the mail room there is a huge platter of vanilla cupcakes with lemon looking frosting, and I comment to the women in the room that they look delicious.  They affirm that they are, to which I respond, “Thank goodness they aren’t chocolate, because that is the only sweet that tempts me.”  I turned, reached in my mail slot and pulled out the biggest magazine I’ve ever seen that was dedicated entirely to selling chocolates.

 

I looked skyward and said, “That is SO not funny!”

 

But it was.  So who knows what that sign meant, because I’ve never gotten a chocolate catalogue, and I don’t know if it meant, “eat chocolate” or “told you not to ask for signs” or “quit stressing over it because that’s the problem.”  I don’t know, but it seemed like a significant rip in the fabric of reality, so I spent a lot of the day yesterday seeking out ways to meditate.

 

I’m going to use the Sunday morning worship hour that I’ve set aside all my life, to spend in meditation and see how that goes.

 

Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and I’ve been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.  

 

You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile!

Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile

 

You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org

 

Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue

 

Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.  Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk

I’m happy to have discovered Gabrielle Bernstein. I don’t think she’s said one new thing yet, and I’ve listened to hours of her talking, but she’s reminded me to lean on God for inspiration and to operate from a place of love. I’m thankful that x sent us a list of the tigers who need homes. It was so sad to read about them missing limbs, being blind, and having horrible birth defects, but that’s to be expected given the way they were treated. One bit of knowledge that I can’t seem to find anywhere is how to find the happiness in the heartbreaking work I’ve chosen. It’s easy to be happy for those who are rescued, but there are so many more in pain. I don’t know how to find peace in that; other than the work on the federal bill and CITES to end the abuse. I am grateful that Hurricane Matthew left the area without dropping much rain or debris on us. I look forward to biking to work today. I’ve missed it. Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and I’ve been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views. If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story. The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/ I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story. My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet. You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile! Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion. Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk

Hurricane Matthew

I am so thankful that Hurricane Matthew has stayed far enough off the east coast to spare us any damage at the sanctuary.

 

I appreciate all of the dedicated staff and volunteers who made sure our cats would be safe, even if it had been much worse.

 

I’m happy that Jamie is on the other side of the world, far away from all this stress.

 

I’ve been delighted to listen to Gabrielle Bernstein’s new book, The Universe Has Got Your Back and to be reminded of all of the power of The Secret.

 

Later I got this email :

 

Hi all, Watching Matthew on cat cams - looks like it may pass you by, for the most part?  I am working on Colorado rescue moves. Do you guys want the tiger that mauled Joe Exotic?  Female orange tiger, 8 years old, now named Chainsaw?  Understand if no, just want to know if I should move her elsewhere.  Thanks!  

 

To which I responded:

 

I have forwarded to Jamie, as we usually take the eldest of cats.  8 is probably going to be OK w/ her, but she's still in S. Africa, so I'd like to hear from her before committing.

 

I still haven't seen a list from you guys of cats and ages yet.

 

We can probably make room for four big cats.  We had tons of room for smaller cats (about 20 cages that were over 1200 sf each) but they aren't suitable for tigers because of the door, tunnel and feeding lockout heights.

 

The storm was a non event for us, THANKFULLY.

 

Hi, I’m Carole Baskin and I’ve been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/

 

I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.  

 

You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile!

Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile

 

You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org

 

Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue

 

Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.  Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk