Refuge Update

By Hilda P. Jackson, Curator

During the past seven years, a lot has happened at Turpentine Creek. We have had illness with the volunteers and the wonderful cats. We have had deaths and births. Looking back over the last few years, I wonder how we have survived. I think the primary reason is the faith we have in what we are doing. It seems that every time things look so bleak, something comes up to get us over the big crisis and life goes on.

Since the last newsletter we have had three rescues, Pretzel (a tiger), Baby, and Shackbotnia "Shack" (two cougars) and no deaths, bringing the total number of "cats" up to 104. The "no deaths" is the best news of all.

Our gate receipts have been up quite a bit this year. More and more people are beginning to come and see what

we are trying to do to save these magnificent big cats.

The interns are doing a great job keeping the compound clean and the cats fed. Rain or shine, these dedicated kids clean the cages every morning, do miscellaneous jobs during all types of weather, feed all the animals along with medicating the ones that need medication, and explain to customers how and why we take in so many of these great creatures. It is a wonderful sight to watch the love these young people have for these great cats and how the cats respond to the attention they get from these wonderful kids. We now have Laurie Vanderwal back from Guelph, Ontario, Canada for another year. There is also Emily McCormack and Eric King from Oswego, NY. Brooke Wurrey is here from Londonderry, NH. Shannon Gavin is here from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. These four young people are here for a six-month internship to get experience with hands on care

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for these cats. I think they are enjoying the hard work involved

and the close contact with these great cats. Laura Kretchmer, from Bel Air, MD, is here to get a shorter taste of this great experience. She is here for only two months. Emily, Brooke, Eric, Shannon, and Laura will all be leaving us in August to make room for four more young people to get their chance.

The golf tournaments in Shell Knob and Ft. Worth were cancelled for the time being. There was just not enough response from the people in the area. Maybe next time, we can advertise the golf tournaments better and get more response.

The Pow Wow, however, was a great success, being the First Annual one. It was held in the meadow just in front of the gift shop. It seemed to overlook the whole world and was beautiful and inspiring. There were some of the greatest dancers in the country here. We all had a lot of fun and look forward to even a better Pow Wow in the year 2000. This was my first one, but will not be my last. Next year see if you can join us for the Second Annual Eureka Springs Pow Wow.

This year, we have had a couple of little white tail fawns brought to us. One of them is standing here beside me while I type this newsletter. Her mother was killed on the road and someone brought her to us. Her name is Precious. She was named this because everyone that came in said, "Oh, isn’t that precious." I finally said, "Yes." She follows me to and from the house everyday. The other little fawn is a little buck. He had fallen from a cliff onto someone’s porch. His legs were hurt. I think he will be okay now. We were a little worried about him for a few days. He still limps, but I think he will be fine. He is the latest arrival and we have not named him yet. Come see us at your first opportunity and tell your friends about us. Hilda P.

Hilda P. Jackson, Curator: hilda@turpentinecreek.org

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