Well, another incredible day is at an end.
A lot of our daily tasks are repeating for me now so I'm not going to continually bore you with all that but instead just give you some highlights!
Waking up today and looking out the window to a cloudless blue skies, i knew we were in for a scorcher, annoyingly I've burnt my scalp and neck :( but being outside from 7am to 5.30pm, its inevitable. The cap was back on!
Our group event today had to be the worst... Weeding! In the field we use to walk the cats, there are two big mounds that they love to run up, but they're covered in weeds that have lots of nasty thorns on them. An hour later and you wouldn't believe a group of 12 that constantly pick up cats that could kill and eat us, could swear so much and get pricked and scratched so much from weeds! We've not enjoyed cold drinks and ice cream as much as we did today!
Today was shopping day! So at lunch we all went to the supermarket to stock up on treats and food for dinners to last until the next trip on Tuesday. It was like Christmas all over again! I volunteered to cook dinner tonight for everyone too, Thai chicken curry (me predictable?) everyone seemed super excited, I was just bricking it... Cooking for one or two is fine but for 16 ravenous youngsters...?
Anyway, shopping done and back to the farm, the heat really was starting to get to everyone today, even the animals were lethargic. You'd look around and see cats just hiding in the shade, and in some enclosures you'd see some of the group napping beside the cats. I still cant quite get my head around how tame the cats are and no matter how I try, I struggle to put it into words.
I went cheetah side where there are 3 cats roaming freely around, Fiela, Bibi and the cub, Gabriel. I could see Chris (my roommate ) and Eleanor stood looking up into a tree, as I approached i realised what was happening.. Gabriel had climbed high into the tree and got stuck. We tried to coax him down with his toys, but he was really stuck and you could see he was starting to get stressed. We called some of the permanent volunteer over, being the tallest i managed to lift his main handler on my shoulders and up into the tree, eventually he came to her but he was crying and shaking and struggling so much, I then managed to reach up and we got him down... He was looking very sorry for himself, he's turning into a real mischievous young boy. Earlier i was playing with him and he was chasing me around and pouncing on his toys which he then proceeded to hump. I couldn't believe what i was seeing so asked the lise-marie if it was normal, she laughed and said "for Gabriel yes, for a cheetah of 4 months, no"
As the day cooled and closed in, it was feeding time. Today was big feed which also meant food for the lions and leopards! One of the big feeds each week involves red meat to the cats. What that is varies as all the meat is donated from farmers. We go over to get the meat and all i can hear is buzzing... May-Louise removed the tarpaulin to reveal massive great but if cow... Legs and all, absolutely swarming with flies. It was gross! We had to load the meat into the truck... Only way was by hand, handling it wasn't so bad but the flies... Oh man the flies ... And the smell...
We take the big legs to the lions and get them into their feeding area, one of the tasks during this feed is that whilst the lions are busy eating, we can go into the main enclosure to poop scoop. Not the most glamorous of jobs but not something I imagined ever having to do... Oh and lion poo stinks too... And its white..
We then handed massive cuts of meat to the leopard and wolves, just watching the power in the jaws of these animals was a thing of beauty, once again, no words can describe how it felt just to be there feeding and watching these beautiful animals. How anyone could hunt and put these cats in danger of extinction is beyond me.
The day was complete, all that was left was for me to cook... What a success! It was perfect and everyone loved it, it was a lovely cool evening too so we all sat out around the pool chatting and laughing. Alarm is set for 5.45 for another magical day with the cats, i just can't wait to get back on the farm!
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