Clicker Training

The tigers at Carolina Tiger Rescue are very smart! I dare say they are smarter than my dogs at home. The reason I make this claim is because some of the tigers are clicker trained. Emerson, pictured above and featuring his adorable snaggle tooth, is clicker trained with Lenore, one of the keepers. She called me over the other day to show me another form of enrichment provided to these animals. We don't make them perform or ask them to do anything in return for a meal; clicker training provides human-animal interaction and gives the animal something to be good at. The clicker method is positive reinforcement; the clicker is auditory recognition that the animal does something desirable, and a treat follows the activity as motivation to continue. Emerson is very motivated by chicken ( I personally am more motivated by steak), and he is eager to please when Lenore breaks out the clicker. The clicker she uses is one of those really annoying seat belt clickers children get at the State Fair, the same ones they obnoxiously run around with clicking every chance they get. Lenore only clicks when Emerson does something she wants him to, however, whether it is to sit, to lay down, to go to his station, or to jump up.

Lenore explained to me how simple the commands must be in order for the tiger to understand and follow them. Simple variations such as body language, tone, and inflection from the person can confuse the animal. Emerson is so quick and so tolerant. He followed every command with little distraction even though I was standing right next to him (he has not had an audience before). The goal is for Emerson to not only follow his training, but to introduce commands that will allow the keeper more access to the animal through the fence to observe and treat an animal if necessary. For example, Emerson has learned to show his paw to Lenore, which is useful if he were to be limping. He can also bow his head for bug repellent to be sprayed on his ears. Unfortunately, Emerson hates men with beards, so the clicker training is also a way to begin introducing other people to him.

Emerson is following Lenore's commands in these photos, and the commands are one-world requests such as "stand," "paw," or "station." He knows what to do and follows through immediately, never taking his eyes off of Lenore. She immediately clicks when he has done something right, and the treat follows. These training sessions provide alleviation from boredom and strengthen the bonds between man and animal. When Emerson has eaten all the chicken, Lenore lets him lick the bowl clean:

The keepers at Carolina Tiger Rescue do clicker training almost every day with their animals (even some of the small cats), though not all of the animals are clicker trained. Rajaji is one of the tigers that has recently begun his clicker training, and he will definitely benefit from it. He is the first tiger visitors see on the tours, and he is usually very friendly. However, in the mornings during feeding time he gets quite agitated if you look at him too long once he's got his chicken (I'm like that with my steak). Rajaji can go from a sweet chuffle and a hello moan to a menacing roar, as was perfectly captured by my camera:

Had I been one of those annoying kids at the State Fair with a clicker, I would NOT have clicked it at him. And yes, I jumped.

Binturong Fever

Ralph is a senior citizen

Last week I finally got to get inside the binturong enclosures to do some cleaning. I guess that doesn't sound so exciting, seeing as how I either walked around enclosures picking up animal waste or fending off too-friendly binturongs. However, I was excited. We have over a dozen binturongs at the sanctuary, and if you don't know what a binturong is, then that's ok because you're reading this now. The binturong (Arctictis binturong), is an arboreal (tree-dwelling) mammal from Southeast Asia that has been very poorly studied. These guys are mostly fruit eaters, though they are still grouped with the carnivores because of their carnassial teeth. However, they are opportunistic feeders and will eat small mammals, fish, eggs, etc. They are one of the most important species in promoting rainforest species, especially the Strangler Fig. This tree can only take root after the fruit passes through the system of the binturong, as the dense seed coat will not allow germination and only the binturong GI tract can soften this coat (there is also a bird in Australia responsible for the same thing). "Bints," as we call them, have tufted ears, coarse black fur, and prehensile tails.

I took this photo from Wikipedia because I have yet to get a full-body shot of any of ours. These guys have nicknames like "Asian Bearcat" but they are not bears nor cats. They are a close relative of the mongoose family, as well as skunks and weasels. However, the binturongs smell like corn chips. I'm not kidding! I don't have warped olfactory signals...they really smell like Fritos. Come out for a tour and you will smell it!

Cage cleaning is very simple. At Carolina Tiger Rescue, each animal is grouped into an aggression level. Binturongs are Level 1, meaning they are generally non-aggressive (but there is one named Coda who really pushes that description). Level 2 are the small cats; Level 3's are Keeper Only (meaning only the keepers go into these enclosures, for whatever reason); and Level 4 are the tigers and kinkajous, and no one goes into an enclosure with one of these animals in it at the same time. Bints are generally lazy or overly friendly, so a team of two enter the enclosure with one person cleaning and one person guarding. Communication is essential in this process, even with a lazy binturong, for at all times must both individuals know where the other is as well as know where the animal(s) is/are. Cage cleaning looks like this:

Here, keeper Jess and volunteer Ashleigh work together, one person cleaning and one person guarding Kiowa the caracal. She obviously doesn't care, but it is so important to be ready for anything (I have previously mentioned their amazing claws). Keeper Lenore and I used the same methods last week to clean each binturong enclosure. Although cage cleaning is strictly business- no visiting- I had a heck of a time warding off Shroom and El Grande, our two extremely friendly binturongs. The entire time I was guarding Lenore, both of these guys were insistant upon getting as close as possible so they could see what we were doing and possibly help. Shroom is very strange, as he is not arboreal, and he just wanted to see what was up as Lenore and I bustled around cleaning up after him (yes, he is a male). Whenever someone cleans, new enrichment is brought into the enclosure and old enrichment taken out (it is only enrichment as long as it's a novelty). Shroom was very pleased that we moved around his plastic kiddie slide (he slides down it!). After each cage is cleaned, we back out of the enclosure and never take our eyes off of the animal.

El Grande (above), on the other hand, was foaming at the mouth by the time Lenore and I got into his enlcosure. He was SO EXCITED to see us and spent the entire time testing my rookie guarding skills. He ran along his beams (above the ground because he is arboreal) trying to get past me so he could climb onto my head. Apparently at one point he developed this habit, but Carolina Tiger Rescue is a no-touch facility and I was not about to let this fifty-pound corn chip rake my face off in happiness. If you've ever seen Ninja Cat on Youtube, El Grande is exactly like that cat-- one second he was five feet from my guarding tools,  the next he was in my personal bubble trying to get past me. Don't let his eagerness fool you- they get lots of lovin'. El Grande is the most spoiled bint on the compound and has a holiday wreath on his door, from his adoptive parents, to prove it.

                                  

This is what Ralph does. All day. Sometimes volunteers think he is dead. I have.

Cleaning is pretty easy, though it does take some time. We always get in and out as quickly as possible for safety as well as placing as little stress on the animals as possible. It was fun to get in some time with the little guys, though afterward I had the strangest craving for corn chips.

Name Change!

Isabella Tiger

Carnivore Preservation Trust has changed it's name! This change comes at a good time and reflects more clearly the mission of the organization as well as the progress the sanctuary has made since it's establishment in 1981. The sanctuary will now be operating under the name Carolina Tiger Rescue (I was told that if I used the acronym CTR that I should fear for my life... so don't you do it either.).

Loki Serval

Carolina Tiger Rescue, formerly the Carnivore Preservation Trust, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit wildlife sanctuary whose mission is saving and protecting wild cats in captivity and in the wild. While tigers are the apex species at Carolina Tiger Rescue, the sanctuary is still home to ocelots, caracals, servals, binturongs, and kinkajous.

Lucky Tiger

Check out the redesigned website!

http://www.carolinatigerrescue.org/default.asp

More internship updates coming soon!

El Grande Binturong

Feathers and Cologne

Being creative in my weekly enrichment hasn't been entirely easy. I haven't wanted to do anything that has been done on a regular basis, yet I don't want to do something difficult like asking the cats to solve a Rubik's cube. I can't do that myself, so I know asking something without thumbs to do the equivalent would be rude. In speculating on the discovery that the small cats can sometimes behave like house cats (sometimes does not equal house pet), I recalled the obsession my own house cats have with this feather duster contraption. It's a plastic stick with some feathers and a bell attached to the head of it. My two cats go bonkers over this thing and I'm constantly buying a new one because they rip it apart. So, I figured I'd recreate the toy for the small cats. I simply took a stick and tied a bunch of buzzard feathers to it (feathers found on the compound from the ridiculous colony of buzzards at CPT). I made two of these toys, and took a cologne and a perfume and doused each set of feathers with one of each, respectively. I wanted to give them options... the smaller cats, ocelots in particular, love the musky smells in human colognes and perfumes and I wanted to make the toys as enticing as possible.

I was not disappointed. As soon as Petee saw the feathers he was interested. I twirled the feathers around his face so he could catch wind of the cologne. Giving him the option of the cologne feather bunch or the perfume feather bunch, Petee decided he liked the perfume and immediately snaked a hand out and snatched one from the bunch. He took the feather between his paws and started licking the feather. Then he rubbed his face in the feather. Then he rolled on the feather. And repeat. Completely enraptured, Petee forgot I was there until I waved the feathers at him again. Then he was all business trying to sabotage my feathers.

Julio acted in much the same way, though he preferred the cologne (I did too - the perfume smelled horrible). I caught him in the above photo turning inside out on his feather and moaning, probably something along the lines of "I love myself." He stole two of my feathers. Morgan and Renee, the ocelot couple, enjoyed the feathers too, though I can't remember if they preferred the cologne or the perfume. Both rubbed on the feathers I gave them and batted a little at the makeshift feather toy.

The caracals weren't really interested in the scented feathers, and Kiowa (above) wasn't too interested in the feather toy either. I think I scared Savage. The Wobbly Sisters seemed almost interested, so I gave them a feather, but they wobbled away.

I have two other ocelots in my areas I haven't discussed, and one who hasn't been too social. PJ is very nocturnal and as a result stays in his den box most of the day. I tried to get him interested in the feathers but he stayed inside his den box. It had been raining in the morning so I understood.

Trapper recently came back to CPT after being on loan in Florida for a museum exhibit. Our first introduction was of Trapper going crazy over the feathers and loving on them like the other ocelots. He was very growly and talkative as he stole another feather like Julio. He was more interested in my hand made toy and worked very hard to ruin my hard work by plucking every feather out of the bunch. I turned around to try and coax out Oliver, a very shy ocelot who rarely comes out of his den box. However, Oliver was ready and pacing as I turned around, as he had probably caught whiff of the cologne. Oliver is an enormous ocelot, very tall and a tad thick. Being that his reputation holds him as shy, I was really surprised that Oliver was so social and eager to visit with me. I gave him a choice of the perfume of cologne feathers, and he chose wisely with the cologne. He went crazy, rubbing on the feather, the grass... then he turned around and SPRAYED ME!!!! Yes, he urinated on me super-soaker style. At this point I smelled of cheap cologne, cheaper perfume, and the very distinct musky odor of ocelot. Any man would have been crazy to resist me. Actually, I really couldn't stand myself, it was so bad.

I'm fairly certain the cats enjoyed their scented feathers. However, I've got to work on some ideas for caracal enrichment as well as binturong enrichment. After a much-needed shower once I got home, the day was complete.

Spots in DC

As I mentioned in my first blog, I want to work in conservation. I specifically want to focus my career in working with cheetahs, be it preservation, research, or public education. I'm kind of hoping that I can get come kind of Super Woman certification so I can do it all.

Last week, I was lucky enough to drive to Washington, DC for some amazing events concerning my favorite big cat. The Cheetah Conservation Fund is an international organization based in Namibia, Africa and focuses on saving the cheetah from extinction. Yep, the fastest land animal is running out of time: if nothing is done, the cheetah could be extinct in 2025. CCF is one of the key leaders in cheetah preservation and conservation, research, and protection of the coolest spotted animal ever. There are several CCF chapters in the US, and there is one in DC. The DC Cheetah Conservation Fund chapter hosted a benefit in downtown DC to raise funds and awareness on behalf of CCF. In addition to the silent auction, beautiful African performances and really good shrimp cocktail, the founder of CCF was present for the event. Dr. Laurie Marker single-handedly started CCF over twenty years ago and has devoted her entire life to saving the cheetah. She is internationally considered one of the most knowledgeable concerning this cat and really illustrates a true conservationist. Basically, this translates into her being my Super Woman. Meeting Dr. Marker was one of two highlights of the evening. I hope very much to work with her in Namibia within the next year or so.

The other highlight of the evening was meeting Roe. When I arrived at the event, I managed to stumble into the wrong room. However, it was the greatest mistake, as I walked right into the room where the Columbus zoo was holding two very special animals, one of which was an 11-month old cheetah named Roe:

Roe was in a conference room, and him and I had a moment when he wasn't purring and talking with his best friend Reese, an Anatolian Shepherd. The Columbus Zoo pairs their cheetah cubs with a dog at birth so they form a natural bond. Roe and Reese are best friends.... Roe depends entirely upon Reese to calm him down. If Reese is happy, Roe is like a house cat (well, as much as the fastest land animal can be), but if Reese is on guard then Roe becomes hard to manage. The keepers present at the event were kind enough to allow me to not only ask them hundreds of questions, but interact with my first cheetah. IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!! Cheetah fur is similar to tiger fur; very coarse and short. Roe allowed me to pet him because he was hand-raised, but obviously wild cheetahs could outrun me in the attempt to do that.

Cheetahs have been extinct from India for almost sixty years, and they are endangered in Africa. They are the smallest of the big cat and are less aggressive. They tend to get bullied out of meals in the wild by larger predators, and interactions with larger cats can be fatal. They purr, unlike any other big cat, and are the only cat to not practice infanticide (baby killing). They obviously run really fast (60 mph in two seconds from rest), and they have large nostrils to allow lots of oxygen into their system. They are the coolest cats ever and I decided on this trip to forgo my dream of becoming a veterinarian in lieu of pursuing a PhD and focusing only on cheetahs and big cats. Although I've always dreamt of being a veterinarian, I don't want to study any other species for four years when I can work only with cats and cheetahs.

This decision was made with heavy influence from the Smithsonian National Zoo, where I visited on my second day in DC. The above photo is of one of the cheetahs kept at the zoo. Having never been to our nation's zoo, I explored throughout the day the many different animals, but always came back to the cheetah station. I just can't get enough of them! After my tour, I made my way to the lecture theatre, where the zoo was hosting an educational lecture on cheetahs with a panel of cheetah experts. Among these experts included the head cheetah keeper at the zoo, one of the Smithsonian's veterinarians who focused on cheetah, a cheetah reproductive physiologist, and Dr. Marker. I skipped three days of class to go to these events, and this lecture was HEAVEN compared to any kind of chocolate or scholastic lecture I need to get my bachelors. The lecture was a sort of Q & A and I learned so much valuable information as well as meeting many people in the cheetah world. I have decided that I want to look into grad school in the DC area so I can be close to the Smithsonian Zoo, which is the hub of cheetah research and conservation. I'm interested in focusing on reproductive physiology and I will eventually end up in Namibia to learn of the conservation efforts to save this amazing species.

Volunteer Appreciation

CPT has an annual Volunteer Appreciation Day in which volunteers and staff gather to celebrate and recognize the hard work of those involved with CPT.  An informal event, awards and plaques were given out, among those the recognition of the volunteer with the most hours: the plaque had a watch on it with the words "Go Home." The Rookie of the Year went to the most involved new volunteer and the golden plaque had a baby bottle on it. The awards were funny, yet seriously reflect how important volunteers are to an organization like CPT. Volunteers really are the heart of any organization, and in the hearts of CPT volunteers and staff lies the insane desire to dress in sumo suits and fight. Yes, that is how we treat our volunteers, for whom we are so thankful. The above photo features an animal keeper and a volunteer preparing to engage in mortal combat. This was so much fun! I did not, however, take part in the wrestling, as I felt that doing so would be cruel... I was a sumo wrestler in my younger years and I didn't want to embarrass anyone. After a wonderful lunch and award ceremony, our group took turns climbing into these giant suits and duking it out. In addition, CPT's volunteers also put together a talent show and we watched baton twirling, listened to cat poetry, and heard one of our keepers play her accordion.

After the Volunteer Award luncheon, one of our volunteers brought out a giant flatscreen tv shipping box to use as enrichment for two of our tigers, Kaela and Rajah. The above photo shows these two investigating the box after we placed it into their enclosure. Of course, we shifted both cubs (as we call them, although these kids are over 300 lbs each. That's a big baby.) into another part of their enclosure so only the box, and not the human, would be annihilated. Not only did they have this fine box to play with, but it was completely drenched with clove oil. Now I don't know about you, but clove oil is the closest thing to heaven if you're a tiger (or if you like pumpkin pie, which I definitely do). I thought they were going to go insane!

These two sniffed and stepped around the box a few times before Rajah took one big paw to the box and flattened it on the ground. I thought they would be disappointed, being as they don't have thumbs and the basic understanding of dimensions, but not these two. Apparently Raj and Kaela have a mighty obsession with getting whatever toy or enrichment item they have in their enclosure into their pool. I'm not sure if they think they are raccoons and they must wash everything or if they are just crazy, but Raj chased Kaela off so he could undergo Operation Get Cardboard in Pool. Raj told that giant flat cardboard box who was boss as he danced around it and worked to lift it off the ground with his teeth. Dragging it towards the pool, Raj was unaware that Kaela was stalking him until she came flying out of nowhere and launched herself on him. It was that clove oil I tell you... does freaky things with their minds. Kaela ran off as Raj wigged out and chased her, but then Raj returned to his box. With a great applause from the humans, Rajah finally got his box onto the pool. However, the box fit over the pool like a lid rather than go into the pool:

So, Raj did what I would have done: jumped on top of the flattened box. Absolute success. The box was in the water, and the smell of clove oil filled the air. The above photo is of Raj dragging his box to the pool, though it's hard to tell I know. Once the box was in the pool, Operation Get Box Out of Pool began. Kaela was at this point tripping out on clove oil in another part of the enclosure, though she did come back and investigate during these events. Raj chased her off. Raj didn't factor into his master plan the decomposition of the cardboard in the water, and the box fell apart in his teeth each time he tried to retrieve it. It appeared that he did not like the taste. Frustrated, he jumped in and out of the pool multiple times, making a soggy cardboard soup seasoned with clove oil.

Once he gave up on the dead box, he tackled the leftovers that didn't make it into the pool, chewing and rubbing and moaning on his cardboard. The smell of clove oil was in the air as Kaela reappeared and the two dashed about in pursuit of absolutely nothing. The enrichment provided a good laugh to us all and obviously a much-needed high for the two tigers. Feeling playful, Rajah charged us mockingly as we were on our way out and seemed rather pleased with himself as I restarted my heart. I'd say it was a darn good day.

Experiments in Enrichment

Savage, the sweet caracal

Enrichment must be provided at least once a week to every animal at CPT. Enrichment simply means stimulating an animal's senses to diversify life in captivity. This can be through introducing new smells, new toys, different ways of presenting food, or mimicking life in the wild. Yesterday, I tested an idea to all the cats in my areas (I also have bunturongs, and have not yet done a project with them). We use a lot of paper mache at CPT: the flour/water combination makes a sticky paste we use to create hollow balls or structures that cats can tear apart for multiple reasons. I tried to recall my days as a fourth-grader when I was a master paper-mache sculptor, but I think I've moved on from that time in my life... ie I am really terrible with paper mache. My Great Idea was to take toilet paper rolls and manufacture the shape of a bird- complete with wings- and cover it in paper mache that I had added copious amounts of cinnamon to (the small cats enjoy cinnamon). When I was done, I had a nicely constructed paper roll bird thing that was covered in newspaper and caked in what appeared to be pancake batter.

We moved on to Idea Two.

Once I had distanced myself from the paper mache goop as far as possible, I cut toilet paper rolls in half and folded the bottoms to make a cup. I then took natural yarn- hemp I suppose- and tied long bits of it to a stick to make a sort of fishing pole. Then I went fishing. I took large chunks of raw chicken and put them in the paper cups I had made and dangled them into each small cat enclosure to gage a reaction. When cats would catch wind of the chicken, a variety of hilarious reactions ensued (Let me note that I wasn't teasing the cats- they got the chicken once they 'captured' it, but I did want to enjoy the process if they seemed interested):

Morgan the ocelot was very active in leaping up the fence and taking his chicken. I had little time to even move it around before he had taken the paper cup in his paws. His pen mate, Renee, has three legs from a snake bite infection resulting in amputation of the front right leg. She gets around great, however. I only moved the "bait" around a little bit so she could snap at it with her jaws before letting her catch and devour it. When it was Renee's turn, Morgan wailed and growled with impatience until I let him kill some more chicken.

Renee has three legs as the result of an infected snake bite, but she gets around great.

Savage the caracal had the second best reaction. This sweet girl came over and watched me struggle to get it on the roof of her enclosure (being short is a disadvantage in itself, but when you are guarding your legs from caracal claws, it gets a bit tricky). A true lady, Savage waited at my feet until she saw the little creature coming down from the roof of her enclosure. She jumped up to bat at the chicken-in-a-cup bait with her enormous paws (which is exactly how they kill birds in the wild). I raised the cup up like a pinata as she became obsessed with taking swings at it. I dropped it to the ground, swung it around, let her lick it, and frantically tried to save it from her, but she is one precise cat. Savage finally hooked it with a one-paw-sucker-punch and pinned it to the ground, and I couldn't lift it on the string using two hands... these cats are strong! Savage was very pleased with herself until she realized that the hemp string was hooked into her extended claw and she couldn't get it off. She ran about in circles, climbed a tree, and finally got it off. She immediately came back for more, however, so I didn't feel guilty.

Scylla

The Wobbly Sisters were surprisingly crafty. I was ready to go easy on them since they have horrible balance, but Nenya came onto her back legs and onto the fence for that chicken. Scylla was particularly keen on chewing the paper cups, which had some cinnamon on them from the pancake batter incident. I narrowly missed getting "tagged" by one of them- meaning a cat snaked her paw out at my hand for some chicken. Don't mess with those girls.

I will note that the entire time this was happening that Fenimore the tiger was in his enclosure next door stalking me from the grass.

PJ is another ocelot, and he was so lazy that he stretched himself out of his den box and leaned onto the fence to strike like a cobra for the chicken. He did not want to play games, but I made him stretch as much as possible for some more.

Julio (above) is a special ocelot. I think he must be a wise shaaman, as he always sits and looks off into the distance before looking you in the eye with a very keen and disinterested look. He is so cool, and I feel kind of uncool when he ignores me. However, he knew what my MO was as I walked towards him and he ran to greet me at the fence. It was a race to get the chicken cup into the fence and my hand away from it as Julio launched himself up six feet to snatch the chicken as well as the cup. No preparation, no build up, just up. These cats are amazing! Julio dropped to the ground and calmly waited for me to repeat the process, then again burst to life to seize the meat. I moved around his enclosure to change it up a little, but this cat is too smart and too quick for me to keep up with safely.

The Best Response, however, came from Petee, my crazy ocelot friend. Petee is quite the devilish little thing, with amazingly huge paws to scale and an attitude that just wreaks of wild. I've mentioned before that Petee can jump from the ground to a hanging upside down position to pull his food through the fence in no time whatsoever (all the cats can do this, but Petee acts on this more frequently). I have to admit that Petee may not have been too impressed with my carefully calculated fishpole idea, as it took him about two seconds to rip the idea to shreds. I didn't have a prayer, as I couldn't even lower the meat into the enclosure fast enough. However, Petee did seem very interested in the string after he was done stuffing his snout with chicken. Experimentally, I swung the string about my feet a little (and by 'about' I mean a good ten inches away from said feet so I wouldn't get up close and personal with those claws) and I thought Petee was going to go crazy. In typical house cat fashion, his only concern was capturing and killing The Mysterious String Thing that was now racing around his enclosure. After fifteen minutes of dashing, biting, jumping, slashing, lightening-fast death grabs, and a few close encounters with losing my fingers, both Petee and I were exhausted and out of breath. However, this cat is in far better shape than I, so I believe that I left a bit more tuckered out than he did. Who would have known that a killer ocelot wanted to chase a bit of string so much?

Petee