March 9
Everything is going smoothly here, in spite of the unseasonable weather. The cubs have enjoyed playing in the snow and the keepers even made a snowman for them. The cats had a great time pouncing on it and knocking it down. We still put them out when it snows, but a little later in the day when it is warmer, and for a shorter period of time. Soyono is taking longer “breaks” from the cubs in the morning, usually four or five hours. With the cubs getting so big—the girls are 100 pounds each and Guntur is 124!—she really needs the rest.
The other day we put a rattle out in the yard for the cubs. What is a tiger rattle, you ask? Well, to stand up to the abuse that our three cubs can dish out, we hang a piece of heavy-duty chain inside a four-foot-long piece of six-inch PVC pipe. Then we hang the pipe from a tree limb using another piece of heavy duty chain, which is inside a length of old fire hose. (The fire hose is to protect the tree limb from the chain.) The pipe is too big for the tigers to get their mouths around, otherwise Soyono could easily crush it.
Since she had seen the rattle before, she knew what it was and was not worried about protecting her cubs from it. Instead, she showed them what to do by batting the rattle around and biting at it. Then she stepped back and waited for them to try. They were all pretty nervous about it but it was Maharani who was the brave one. Within half an hour she was smacking it around pretty well. I would have expected it to be Guntur since he is such a confident boy but I guess you just can’t predict what cats will do.
Last night the cubs hit another milestone. They spent the night separated from their mother and each other. Twice a year we send a fecal sample from each of our animals to the animal hospital to check for parasites and routine screening. Up until now, we would just send a sampling of cub poop up for testing. But the cubs are big enough now that we needed to check each of them separately.
After they came inside yesterday, they went to their usual cages to eat separately as always but instead of putting them back together afterwards we left them apart. They were quite vocal at first, but then they calmed down again. And this morning everyone had produced a sample, which was duly forwarded to the lab.
Things like spending the night apart or being introduced to a new, noisy object in their yard are challenges for the cubs. Each time they meet one of these challenges, it helps build their self-confidence. It teaches them not to be afraid of new things and new experiences. This is very important for animals that will one day go off to a new place to be cared for by people they don’t know. When that happens, it will be much less stressful for them because they have learned how to cope with new experiences and how to be brave.
Thanks to FONZ Photo Club member Janice Sveda for the great pictures.
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