Day Trip--Part 3

After lunch we had to hurry because we needed to get to our next stop before it closed.

Just ten minutes from Eureka Springs is the Turpentine Creek Animal Refuge. They are the home to over 100 big cats. We saw tigers, cougars, panthers, lions, etc.

We wanted to be there during feeding time and luckily we got there a little before it started. We could tell it was feeding time because the cats were crazy. They were growling all over the place. It was a little freaky actually. The lion's growl practically sent shivers down my spine.

This place was WAY better than the zoo. We were less than 10 feet away from the animals.

Something neat, Tyson Foods and Walmart donate the meat to this animal refuge--300,000 pounds per year.

During feeding time the workers throw in huge racks of ribs and chicken breasts to the cats. You could hear them crunching through the bones, we were so close.

Here's a tiger eating his food. See all of the meat around him? The workers say they feed them once a day. Each tiger eats about 10 lbs of meat per day.

A lot of the pictures we took were of the tigers, just because they were so cool! Some of them, while they were on all fours were probably 4 1/2 feet tall!

This picture below is a lion. He didn't want to work it for the camera but that's ok.

All of the animals have names and a brief history of why they're here and where they came from. It baffled us at how many of these animals came to the refuge after being HOUSE PETS!!! One sign, and I quote said "we realized it probably wasn't safe to be having a pet cougar and a 2 1/2 year old baby in the same home," I would agree with that.
One tiger lived in a trailer with a man. Wow. Other animals came from zoos, etc and were getting medical treatments. It was a really neat place.

On our drive to Eureka Springs I found my DREAM HOUSE!!! I took some pictures on our way back.
I love the red door and shutters. I wish I could meet the people who live here.
Isn't it beautiful?!