As I said in my intro my husband and I run a small Big Cat sanctuary. At times it is trying and sometimes I think we're insane for doing this. But we are giving abused and neglected big cats a new chance at life. We are lucky enough of have the property and resources we do so we can do what we do for these cats. I would like to stress these cats are NOT PETS!! They are rescues from people who tried to make them pets and failed. I don't have any way of posting pics as of right now. But give me a couple weeks and I will have pics of everyone to share . Until then here is a bit about each of our cats.

First the little Big Cats LOL.

Bobcats

Archemedes- 6 year old male Bob. Archie as he is affectionately known was kept illegally in a basement of a drug house for his first 3 years of life. He was his owners attempt at looking tough. Its a sad life for animal but especially a beautiful wild creature to live in a dark cold basement. Archie was also abused and neglected left to starve to make him meaner. Eventually Archie was removed from that terrible place and transferred to our sanctuary. Though he has been here three years he is still not a fan of people but he really likes the other Bobs and also likes to watch the Servals. Archemedes is allowed to dislike us he is allowed to avoid our touch. He is not aggressive he is just wary. If he likes any human it would be our 14 year old daughter Tru he loves to watch her and has even come close enough for her to almost touch.

Highway- 2 year old male. Highway was confiscated when his owner was pulled over for speeding on the highway and the police found his owner had two little Bobcat cubs not even a week old in car and was planning to sell them. We were contacted and two both cubs. Unfortunately Highways little sister Freeway did not make it . Highway spent the first portion of his cub-hood living in our home with us and the dogs. He then alittle before his second birthday was moved to his enclosure with Trinity permanently. He is the doll baby of the bobs though we did our best to raise him to know he's a Bobcat and not a dog. He loves cuddles though and definately a lover.

Trinity- 3 year old female. Trinity like Highway we raised from a cub. She was actually handed over to us by her original owner. She had gotten Trinity thinking she would make a cute pet. But came to find our Bobcats airn't house cats and are stronger and airn't for the weak. She came to us at 6 months old and she has always been a spitfire and sassy pants. She is our prankster and our diva. She likes human companionship but is also independent and prone to tantrums when she doesent get her way. She is Highways "big sister" and bestfriend. Right now they share an inclosure but I would like them to join Archie and Groovey in the bigger enclosure in time. I just want to make sure Archie won't feel the need to attack Highway lol.

Groovey- 3 year old female who is our newest addition. We got her a year ago from a raid. She like Archie wasent raised in the kindest of homest and was beaten often and has the scarrs on her face to prove it. But unlike Archie for whatever reason Groovey still likes and is interested in people. She is reactive to loud voices and quick movements though. And if scared bad enough she will defend herself. She has bonded with all the Bobs and we are hoping she will be the key to help intergrate the younger Bobs in with Archie who she has under her spell. We are also hoping Groovey will help break down those walls of Archies a bit. Just to make feeding and vet exams a bit less stressful

Clouded Leopards

First of I have to say we got these two Clouded Leopards from a underground raid where they were being sold for their coats and pets. They were brought to as four week old cubs. Now here is a bit about their personalities as sisters. They are both 4 years old.

Chaos- Lol I think her name should give it away. Chaos is our zoomer like any Clouded Leopard she is amazing at climbing tree's. But she literally runs up and around from tree to tree in their enclosure. She is spazzy and will tag you if your not on your toes. She loves to play with balls and sticks and is interested in everything and everyone around her. She's my husbands favorite cat lol.


Carina- Her name means cute in Italian which fits. I have always loved Clouded Leopards. They have in my opinion the cutest faces of all the big cats. And she was so soft spirited and sweet compared to her hyper active sister as a cub it just fit. Though she is the sweeter of the girls Carina is boss and will put Chaos in her place quickly. She is a bit more wary of people she is sweetest with me but doesent like sudden movement or loud sounds. She is sensitive and also one of the less aggressive cats on the property. But she's not cuddly.

Caracal

Buddy-5 year old Buddy is our only Caracal and he is unique as they come. My son often refers to him as "The Alien" because of his big pointed narrow black ears. A Caracal is a African desert cat though they can live about anywhere. They are known for their jumping abilities and they are extremely smart. Which is why I suppose people want them as pets. Because man years ago they were trained for bird hunting and catching and so it makes them seem like good pets. But like any wild cat they are not meant to be pets and are unpredictable. Thats what happened with Buddies original owners. Buddy ended up biting his owner pretty severly and because she was always afraid of him after that he ran the place. She was afraid to call anyone about him because she owned him illegally. But eventually got our number and we agreed to take Buddy.

Buddy is not a bad cat dangerous yes but all our cats are dangerous. But Buddy is not bad he was just bored living in a little apartment Living off a improper diet and no exercise he was being built up to be a problem. Buddy came to us over weight and had no understanding of living in an enclosure. Lets just say when he came he had a rhinestone collar around his neck . We have had Buddy for two years now and he is now a wild cat again. He eats raw meat and as plenty of room to run and playmates as well. Though someday I would like to find him a friend to live in his enclosure with him. I doubt it will be anouther Caracal.

Oh and by the way. Since Buddy has been here he has never shown aggression or has ever bitten anyone.

Servals

Unfortunatly Servals have become the new big fad in pet owners. People by Serval cubs finding them adorable and bring them home thinking they would be no different than a house cat. Not so a Serval is a wild animal and it breaks my heart to see so many of them in bad homes. Okay now about our Servals.

Arizona- 9 year old female Serval. Arizona is actually from anouther big cat rescue. Her story was she was imported here as a breeding cat for some scum bag breeder who was selling the cubs as pets. Arizona was poorly socialized and they took her cubs away from her too early every time. Which left Arizona was sever emotional distress and like Buddy she attacked her owner one day after he taunted her. When she was put up for sale the original rescue got her and worked with her for three years. Though she was emotionally scarred and just all around messed up they got her to come to trust people again. Unfortunately they rescue went broke and had to rehome most of their cats including Arizona and our two large leopards. We offered to take the three of them knowing we had the money and room to care for them. They came and checked out our place and loved our enclosures. Arizona was then transferred to our sanctuary and has been here for four years. She isn't like the other two. She is not goofy and clown like but more reserved. I do love her though.

Cash- 3 year old male. Cash is Skittles brother they came to us as cubs around the same time Trinity came to us. Lol just call us Cub Care! Cash and Skittles were turned over to us when they were 4 months old. They like Trinity were also turned over by their owner who was moving and could not take them with him. He also said he had bought them to simply save them from a worse home. I beleived him as he said he was happy they would be in a natural enviroment and not kept as pets. Cash is our charmer he likes to "flirt" when the volunteers come to the enclosure fence. He loves human attention and loves to wrestle and bounce around. And though like most Servals he likes to sleep all day he will wake up when he hears a human near by and bound to the fence. Cash loves people alittle too much.

Skittles- 3 year old female. Skittles is Cash's sister and often his bully. Skittles like Cash can be sweet and fun loving but she is also in charge and she likes to show it. She often likes to challenge older Arizona. Arizona though forgives her and really she allows Skittles to be in charge. Though Servals live alone in the wild our Servals live in a large enclosure together. Big enough they can each have their own space but they also enjoy each others company. Unlike Cash Skittles loves her beauty rest and can usually be invisible in the tall grass in their enclosure sleeping sweetly. She is the queen of playing with her food and hunting small prey when given the chance. She will come up for pets but she isn't as into humans as much as her brother. She is one of my favorite cats.

Now for the

Big Cats

Snow Leopard

Skynyrd- 5 year old male. I guess Skynyrd could have been lumped in with the smaller big cats but he's still a bit bigger than all of them. Not by much but a bit. So im just lumping him in with the big guys lol. Skynyrd came with Arizona from the rescue that couldn't keep them do to money problems. Skynyrd came to us at a year old he was for sale as a cub on the black market. I am unsure what the reasoning was though I can only assume for his pelt. Though Skynyrd is sweet and likes to come to his enclosure fence when people around he is NOT one to be cuddled or truly pet. He has a temper and is very dangerous as his mood can change on a dime. He has a large enclosure to himself and he likes it that way. People are always attracted to him but that doesent mean he wants the attention. He is known to get angry at times and charge the fence. We call those his grumpy days and those are the days when only my husband can be near him.

Black Leopard


Anasazi- 6 year old male. Anasazi came to us with Arizona and Skynyrd and he is the least friendly of all our big cats. Though he has come a long way since he first came here he is the wildest of our bunch. He wants nothing to do with anyone unless they are feeding him. He is known to charge the fence often but other times he is more than happy to sleep in a tree all day. He is by far our most beautiful cat and is just all around handsome. My daughter loves to study him for her art class. He is known as the grump as he never seems to be in a nice mood. But we all love our big grump because he's being what a black leopard should be.


Cougar

Cowboy- 1 year old male. Last but not least is our newest over all big cat addition Cowboy. Cowboy is your typical puma a big dangerous doofus. We have had Cowboy since he was two months old. He came from a raid where he was being kept illegally in a suburban home. And so he came here and we have done our best to raise him as a Cougar. He is our first but we have done well like. Like all Cubs he has spent all of his cubhood in the house/nursery with us and the dogs. He also now spends his days in a small run enclosure and eventually will spends days and nights out there. By summer we plan to move him into his much larger permanent enclosure. He's a sweet old boy who likes attention and loves a good swim or game of soccer he also loves to climb. He is a big fan of the bigger dogs who he can wrestle with. But he also listens when they put him in his place.


Well thats all about our cats. Like I said please do not be fooled these animals are NOT PETS. And when I am able to post pictures you will be able to tell this by their enclosures. Like I said before I should have pics to share in a couple weeks!!!

Thank you for the insight into your animals. Hope you will be able to post pictures soon. ---Aggy

[Yogi]

I noticed that you mentioned Bobcats. A friend of mine back in the early 60's was presented with two 2 day old Bobcat kittens. Their mother had been found dead in a trap. The Ranger knew my friends cat had a litter of kittens and they had been killed by a wild animal. He asked if she thought the cat would accept them. She did and they nursed off her for several weeks. The Ranger took in the male and she kept the female (her name was Checkers). At the time they lived in northern California on a large farm. Checkers went everywhere with them and on way outing a photographer from Life magazine saw them driving down the road. He followed them until they stopped and asked to take some pictures and asked the story. He ended up coming to their home and took several photos of the cat playing with the adopted mother and their 18 month old daughter. The pictures made it into the magazine. They kept Checkers for several years til they moved to the Los Angeles area suburbs. In the country when Checkers came into season there was no problem but in the city area when she howled it carried for some distance. They finally gave her to the zoo where she was a main attraction for years. People were able to come up to her and pet her. She was somewhat an ambassador and loved people. That was one of the biggest regrets they had with moving away from the farm. She sent me copies of several of the photos and they were incredible the interaction the cat had with the family especially their daughters. The cat loved and looked over them all the time. She loved playing leap frog so when she was behind you, you would bend over and she would leap over you from behind. It was a regular game of exercise she loved.

Originally Posted by Yogi

I noticed that you mentioned Bobcats. A friend of mine back in the early 60's was presented with two 2 day old Bobcat kittens. Their mother had been found dead in a trap. The Ranger knew my friends cat had a litter of kittens and they had been killed by a wild animal. He asked if she thought the cat would accept them. She did and they nursed off her for several weeks. The Ranger took in the male and she kept the female (her name was Checkers). At the time they lived in northern California on a large farm. Checkers went everywhere with them and on way outing a photographer from Life magazine saw them driving down the road. He followed them until they stopped and asked to take some pictures and asked the story. He ended up coming to their home and took several photos of the cat playing with the adopted mother and their 18 month old daughter. The pictures made it into the magazine. They kept Checkers for several years til they moved to the Los Angeles area suburbs. In the country when Checkers came into season there was no problem but in the city area when she howled it carried for some distance. They finally gave her to the zoo where she was a main attraction for years. People were able to come up to her and pet her. She was somewhat an ambassador and loved people. That was one of the biggest regrets they had with moving away from the farm. She sent me copies of several of the photos and they were incredible the interaction the cat had with the family especially their daughters. The cat loved and looked over them all the time. She loved playing leap frog so when she was behind you, you would bend over and she would leap over you from behind. It was a regular game of exercise she loved.

Awww wow what a story. Checkers sounded amazing. Bobcats can be very sweet and personable. Which is why I beleive people want to keep them as pets. Im not saying it can't work. Obviously with Checkers it did work for the most part and your friend was responsible enough to find her a good home when needed. Unfortunately I run into so man sad stories about about Bobs kept as pets that turned out sad. Im glad Checkers had a happy life.

you defineately have your hands full!
was at the zoo two weeks ago ,im a cat fan but the tiger and lion compound,including barbary kittens,are kind of secluded ,you really dont see much!
ive never heard of the black leopard,although i know leopards are fantastic jumpers!

WOW! I look forward to all the photos

[wishbone]

I've only seen a bobcat pet before in the park, she's really sweet and amazing pet. She's little bit shy but the owner says she's been training to be a therapy pet.

[lil mutt]

i havent seen a bobcat before... gonna search for video clips and photos later...

[mrandrei]

So you bought them from black market? Does that mean you own them illegally? I agree with you, these animals are not supposed to be pets, but why do you own such? Owning big cats are too risky!

that's not a bit, that's a lot anyway thanks for sharing

[Yogi]

Originally Posted by mrandrei

So you bought them from black market? Does that mean you own them illegally? I agree with you, these animals are not supposed to be pets, but why do you own such? Owning big cats are too risky!

little confused here... where did anyone say they purchased these cats or that it was illegal? What post or quote are you referring to. No one here mentioned buying these cats, they are a large cat sanctuary that rescues them from abusive situations.

that's a good information about big cats thanks for sharing