Keepers of the Wild – Exotic Animal Sanctuary

These wolves are a litter born of a female rescued as spayed - OOOPPPPSSS !! The female was in such bad shape that the Vet who examined her couldn't even tell she was pregnant.

Trees are just being planted - but this is the desert

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I just had to include in our blog a section on ‘Keepers of the Wild’ – http://www.keepersofthewild.org/ an exotic animal sanctuary. In early December we were looking on the Internet for a new place to visit (Needles is NOT an exciting place). We came across a WEB site for the above park. It is located 27 miles NE of Kingman on old route 66 near the small town of Valentine. The park opened at this location in May 2007, after moving from its previous location near Las Vegas. This location offers more room for the 150 animals they have now. And there are more than 200 animals on a waiting list.

The animals at the sanctuary have varied histories – some have been abused; some have been purchased for private pets and for any number of reasons (usually become too big or ‘act’ like wild animals) they can’t be kept any longer. Many were used in animal acts, or used as young animals for kid’s photo ops. At six months, it is against the law to have the public near wild animals, so the animals are discarded. The founder of the park was originally an illusionist in Vegas and when he saw how badly many of the animals in other acts were treated, he began dreaming about starting this preserve to protect as many animals as he could. We were told it is one of the few USDA sanctioned animal sanctuaries in the nation.

The guy at the top is the lion in the story below. The lion below is named 'Ellen' (after a benefactor to the park).

The park is dependent on donations (food for the animals for a year will cost $150,000) and volunteers. We started our time there walking around the compound and decided to take the tour – just the two of us joined by the head animal keeper. As we drove (ala golf cart) among the animal compounds he told us the stories of how they came to have many of the animals. There were predominately cats (lions, tigers, cougars, jaguars), wolves, monkeys, birds, hoofed stock……even two cows and a duck. The park keeps the animals until they die naturally, then the animals are cremated (no body parts are used or sold) and their ashes are buried at the park.

The guy here on top is one that NO ONE ever gets near. you can tell by looking at his beautiful face that he's not a nice guy.

Here are just two of many interesting animal histories the keeper explained to us:
There are several emus at the park. One emu had been purchased by parents for a little girl so she could say she had Big Bird at home. However, when the parents learned that an emu can eviscerate a lion with one kick, they decided to get rid of it. But what do you do with an emu????
And one of the male lions (looked like a large female) was purchased for an animal act. The owner neutered the animal assuming that this would make him docile. But it changed the hormone balance and his mane fell out. So the animal was no longer wanted.
Included here are several pictures of the animals – sorry about the fences in every picture – the habitats were double fenced (with about 5 feet between the fences) so you couldn’t even shoot a picture between the fencing.

We loved our few hours there and will definitely return in the future.



The picture below is a cat named Mica who resides in the

Meade sanctuary - How can she sleep like that??? Bye for now

The Meades at Desert Hot Springs and Joshua Tree National Park

Our two week stay at Desert Hot Springs went amazingly fast. It was great fun and made more so because our friends Diann and Rich from Albuquerque joined us. We were able to park our RVs next to each other at Catalina Spa & RV Resort for a week. While we were there, we also had a weekend visit from Maureen and Dennis who drove over from Huntington Beach. Maureen and I have known each other since 4th grade and were roommates at WSU.
There is a LOT going on in Desert Hot Springs and all the adjacent communities – Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, La Quinta, and others. There are art shows, Casinos, street markets, Indian pageants, golf-golf-golf (for a price), restaurants, etc. And the weather was perfect – during the first week temps were in the 80s, the second week temps were in the 70s; you can’t beat it.

We strolled the main streets of Palm Springs, had a date shake at Shields’ Date Orchard, spent an afternoon at a home show– we had to turn down offers for hot tub and ceramic tile roof installations – HA! We played golf on a 9-hole course three times, did lots of driving and sightseeing. We even spent an afternoon driving through the San Jacinto mountain range above the Palm Springs area and to the city of Hemet. The residents claim it is a much better place to winter than the Palm Springs area because it doesn’t have the wind. Yes, the Palm Springs (Coachella Valley area) does experience relatively frequent wind – just west are a series of wind farms, just a clue that there may be a breeze.

And then it was time for the four of us to hit the road again – on to Twenty-nine Palms, CA, just outside Joshua Tree National Park. It was much cooler there, but we managed to play a round of golf at a 9-hole course next to the RV park. And we spent a day driving through Joshua Tree National Park. It was quite green, due to rains a couple of weeks before. There were many wild flowers blooming including the Ocotillo. You don’t always see that in the desert. The rock formations were also amazing – monoliths and interesting rock formations.

Pics:

Top - View of Gordie, Diann, and Rich at Ruby's Diner on the main drag of Palm Springs'

Middle: Joshua Tree Nat'l Park - 'Marmot' figure; Cholla cactus garden; Hummingbird on Ocotillo cactus flower; sunset at 29 Palms; Skull Rock

Then on Thursday night the rains began, and it rained and rained and rained all day Friday and until 4AM Saturday morning. Once it was over the sky cleared and the winds came. On Saturday we all took off for Needles, CA and crossed a huge dry lake bed that was actually a lake. To see the desert covered with water is an amazing site.

We are now in Needles for a month. At Christmas we will join son Jeff and Darcy in Chandler for a trip to Boise where son Kelly and his family are hosting a family Christmas. It is the first time in 5 years that the boys will have been together. We’re excited!!!

We wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a happy beginning to 2008 – we’ll be back in touch down the road.