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News for the month of February 2002

Habitat Improvement - February and January are Combined Chronicles

Both January and February were months of habitat improvement. Dave and I focused on adding additional landscaping to both the Red Ruffed Lemur and the Black & White Ruffed Lemur habitats. In addition, we reseeded the lion, tiger and lemur habitats with an annual Rye Grass.

Since Dave has been in both the nursery and landscape business almost his entire life, it is always so much fun going with him looking for landscaping material. As you can tell, he has done a great job designing, building and planting all of the habitats here at the Sanctuary. We ended up replacing almost all of the Hibiscus plants in the Black & White Ruffed Lemur habitat. Four adult lemurs, numerous Green Iguanas, and tortoises definitely take their toll on plants. It seems that all the residents of this habitat absolutely love eating not only the Hibiscus flowers, but the leaves too. The large Sulcata and Leopard Tortoises are extremely destructive animals. Constantly digging up and bull dozing the plants. These habitats continuously require constant maintenance in-order to provide an enriching and changing environment to its inhabitants. You may also have noticed the ropes (Lemur Highways) in both lemur habitats were rearranged to provide better camera shots as well.

The Red Ruffed Lemur habitat was also extensively seeded with an annual Rye Grass. This not only looks good, but provides the large 60 + pound Sulcata Tortoises with a nutritious food source to graze on. As with all reptiles, it is imperative that these Tortoises receive the proper Calcium/Phosphorous ratio, which this grass provides. Since this habitat has a 10 foot high ceiling, we were able to plant a couple larger "Tree" Hibiscus, Vs the shrub version Hibiscus planted in the Black & White Ruffed Lemur habitat.

The habitats of Clarence, Gypsy, Marcan, Sherikon, King, Princess, Loki, Tundra and Ikis were also seeded again with Rye Grass. I am sure if you are paying attention; you will notice the fact that these large cats are extremely rough on vegetation. Especially delicate ground covering material such as grass. It seems we have to reseed almost monthly. Tundra and Loki in particular have a tendency to rip up any newly planted grass, mocking David and I. Sometimes I think they are actually smiling at us as they destroy our hard work. Such little devils they are; but we love them so much! Kind of like a devious two-year-old child who just wrote all over the walls with a permanent marker.

Although it is a continuous nightmare to keep the Tiger Homes habitats looking good and environmentally friendly for its inhabitants Dave and I love it. These are our children. At least they don't have to go to college! As always, keep watching and learning about these truly remarkable animals.

Remember, there are many ways to help the cause. Here are a few.

1) Tell everyone you know about the website. By increasing the number of visitors, we increase the awareness of the danger these wonderful creatures face.
2) If you have a website, link to us - http://www.tigerhomes.org/
3) Submit our site http://www.tigerhomes.org/ to any webcam sites you may visit.
4) Make a donation to the sanctuary. There is an area on the gift shop for those who want to contribute.
5) Purchase items from the gift shop. They make great gifts and are for a worthy cause.
6) Adopt a pet. It's a great way to virtually own one of the sanctuary animals.

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Remember, our main mission is to spread an interest in saving wild animals and wild places but we can't do it alone.

Story by: Jason and David