New Week - Lions Roaring

The Lions are roaring once again!!! The coyotes are following suit!  Now the foxes and then the cockatoos.
Our Tuesday morning is following the Tuesday's of the past. We are scheduled for a day of visitors and the meet and greet with the animals for them.

We closed Saturday with a huge gathering of encounters with Remington and Kelsey was so good getting him before each visitor. Remington enjoys the attention as he prepares his life for human friendly gatherings. He has grown so much in the short while we have had him that remembering when he was a short stuff is harder to envision.

Check out the early photo versus the later photo and you will see what I mean.

Remington - 3 weeks old

Remington - 14 weeks old

Do tigers like to swim? No they love it!

Remington gets a new toy

                                                                                        Remington's New Toy

Our little Remington in his new digs with his new toy!! The little man puts a smile on everyone's face as Kelsey, his trainer, warms the visitors with the bucket list the visitors come with....and that is to see, pet and hold a tiger!!!  AND a white Bengal tiger at that!!!

Raccoon, Lynx and Coyote video

Cornelius - The Famous Mystery Monkey Of Tampa Bay

The Mystery Monkey of Tampa Bay has found a quieter lifestyle at our Dade City Wild Things Zoo. After being on the loose for 4 years in Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties, Cornelius is the one of the attractions to those who follow us on Facebook and to those who want to see him in person. Being a Rhesus Macaque monkey from the Ocala National Forest, Cornelius traveled to the 3 neighboring counties unnoticed until he arrived here almost 5 years ago.

One year ago August, he was captured and then released to us where he has settled in as a booming attraction to our zoo. The Tampa Tribune did an article on him 3 weeks ago and The ABC Action News team of the 'Dan and Deiah' morning show spoke of him as being one of the best stories they had had while celebrating their 10 year anniversary last Friday.

Come check out Cornelius at the zoo and follow him on our Facebook page or blogspot.

Celebrating 10 years with Dan and Deiah!

Tiger Swims With The Crowd

We have been enamored with tiger swims this week, partly due to the weather change and some due to the fact that our baby white Bengal Tiger is so popular.  Remington is only available for a short time because the law states that after reaching 40 pounds, the tiger can no longer appease the public's desire to interact with the tigers. Remington is now 14 weeks old and approximately 27 pounds. Tigers get big really, really fast!! What was once a cute little cat, the size of a house cat, Remington has grown at an outrageous rate. He is still cute, but growing fast! He creates a wake as he paddles up the pool!!!

Remington the Innocent, Little, Big White Tiger

Tiger Week!

Our tigers are ready for a great week of visitors!! We are scheduled for a great week of visitors.

Today we will be getting the parked cleaned up after being closed for two days and a pretty good storm over the weekend. You can hear the lions greeting us with their loud roar and the coyotes following suit. All the lions are now in unison with the roaring....an awesome display of strength!!

Come see us this week and follow us on our blogspot or on Facebook!

Coatimundi Learn Time

Coati and Mundi - Spot-nosed Coatimundi

After becoming mature, coati's become very aggressive and do not make good pets. They bite and become unpredictable. He is handled with ship systems only. He is extremely fast and smart and always on the attack.

Today at the park we have an aggressive day with visitors as we have a huge crowd today. The Coatimundi's are going to be brought to the forefront today so we can teach the visitors about them.

 

Adult coatis measure 33 to 69 cm (13 to 27 in) from head to the base of the tail, which can be as long as their bodies. Coatis are about 30 cm (12 in) tall at the shoulder, and weigh between 2 and 8 kg (4.4 and 18 lb), about the size of a large house cat. Males can become almost twice as large as females and have large, sharp teeth.  All coatis share a slender head with an elongated, flexible, slightly upward-turned nose, small ears, dark feet, and a long, non-prehensile tail used for balance and signaling.

Coati, the Coatimundi

Australian Emu

Marvin - The Australian Emu

Marvin is a handicapped Emu and when you get the opportunity to meet him, you will notice his exaggerated walk. Upon arrival, his injury was handled by the staff until he fully recovered. Due to Marvin's handicap he gets to walk the property, in which he roams all over the property, and will sometimes greet the customers with his intriguing stature .

 

 

Marvin, the Big Man Emu

African Servals

Sherman & Savannah - African Servals

The brother and sister are from Savannah Georgia. Their previous owners needed to find a new home for them and we gladly took them in. Savannah was fixed to prevent inner breeding between brother and sister. Egypt worshipped these cats and assigned them the duty of rat control. They are best known for their presence in the picture with Cleopatra.

 

 

Savannah The African Serval

Gabby and Pretty Boy- Our Florida Panthers

Gabby - Florida Panther

She is a female panther that was kept in a small cage at a roadside zoo that was shut down. She is very friendly, except when she bites! We have two Florida Panthers, Pretty Boy is the male and rooms with Gabby. 

Florida Panthers are on the Critically Endangered Species list as there are only 150 in existence mainly in the Florida Everglades and a few in south Georgia. They are tracked, named and numbered as to keep track of their survival.  Some are rescued after their habitat in south Florida gets destroyed by housing and we bring them up to Dade City Wild Things Zoo as they get spotted on the highway system.  

They are a great attraction to the zoo, teaching the visitors the importance of conservation and what the public can do to ascertain their survival. They are in the process of trying to breed those still alive by a special method of breeding practices that can still be done while they are in the wild.

Come see these beautiful Panthers and they will talk back to you!!!



Our Jaguars and Leopards

Luther & Cassie - Black Jaguar and Spotted Jaguar

Luther and Cassie were both kept in very small cages without the ability to jump, which caused many conditions including poor muscle development in their rear legs. They were unable to jump up or run. After medical treatment and the development of a cage designed with a slant that helps to develop rear leg muscles, they are now able to jump up and run.

Luther is our Black Jaguar and Cassie is our Spotted Jaguar. Shown below is Cassie and these two are our most endearing couple. Understand that pound for pound, Jaguars have the strongest jaw pressure per bite and that Leopards are the most athletic cats. Also, there are not Black Panthers but rather Black Leopards and Black Jaguars.

There are two types of cats: Big Cats and Small Cats. They are so aptly named due to the hyoid bone located in the Big Cats throat which enables them to roar. The Big Cats are the Lion, Tiger, Leopard and the Jaguar.

The Small Cats are the Panther, Puma, Cougar, Mountain Lion, Bobcat, Lynx and Serval cats. They do not have the hyoid bone and therefore can only pur, albeit it can be a louder, stronger pur than a house cat that we all relate to as a purring cat.

Cassie Our Spotted Jaguar