Friday, August 24, 2018

CUTIES


Posted by Chic Silber at 8/24/2018 12:30:00 AM

3 comments:

Chic Silber said...


Mama's nap time

24 August, 2018 00:33
Chic Silber said...


A Siberian (Amur) cub

24 August, 2018 09:32
Roger Smith said...

Hanzie and Emir were our most prolific breeding pair at Jungleland. They gave us 4 well-spaced litters of 4 cubs each time. Mabel Stark schooled me on the day-by-day rearing of these 16, beginning with leaving them with their mother if we could. Emir was an ideal mother, who perfectly followed nature in nursing, cleaning, and protecting her babies.

The damndest problem we had with these litters was the excitement over their arrivals. The rule is, keep mother and cubs alone in darkness for their first 30 days--first to give them privacy so the mother doesn't feel threatened. If she does, she can kill and consume her cubs in a strange but certain effort to contain them. This lesson came first, but just as important was the darkness protected the cubs' eyesight for this critical month. When word spread that we had new cubs, we had those who felt privileged, and who came behind the fence and lifted my front-covering blind to see them. There were hurt feelings and angry embarrassment for them when they were turned away, but Mabel Stark set them straight and I followed her lead.

When I cleaned their cages, Mabel had me shift Emir down 2 cages to give her a break. Then I'd ease the litter over 1 cage, close them off, and clean for them. Emir enjoyed her hour of feed time without being menaced by curious cubs. Once she was done and had her nap, we'd shift her back, and she'd resume her motherly duties, well refreshed.

24 August, 2018 17:06

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