I will begin this by saying as we pulled up to The Catty Shack Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary, my husband gave me the ultimate side eye. Let me back up a little bit, and set the scene. As we snaked through the Live Oaks hanging with Spanish Moss, our destination abruptly appeared amongst the midst of some hard core trailers. Trailers out of a horror movie, places that I refused to believe could be inhabited by humans. And even though I’ve never seen the show “Tiger King”…okay, it wasn’t that bad but you’re getting the picture. There wasn’t a building per say, more like a series of tarps, trailers, leantos  (y’all know what a lean to is.. just some material leaned together) and a sandy parking area. The colorful marquee verified that we were indeed in the right place, but it was hard to believe we were getting ready to see a dozen or so big cats.

 As we walked through the sandy lot, I promised my husband that this was a real family attraction. I said “ they have a real website, it looked so legit online.” We paid ahead of time, so our name was on a list that got us in. There was a small gift shop that reminded me of what you was see at a traveling carnival, the port a potties continued to lend to the carnival feel. But when we saw the first tiger, everything changed.

This is the closest any of us had ever been to a large cat, and we were able to see one cat after the other from this close range. Each enclosure told us the name of the cat, when it had been rescued or acquired and how old it was. The staff (all volunteers) were so incredibly kind, and were willing to answer all of our kids’ questions about tigers and lions. Yes, there were lions and well, one male and one female. We were able to watch as some volunteers fed the lions while they cleaned parts of the fencing. The male lion, whether in a playful gesture or not, lunged at the person cleaning the fence, and both my husband and I jumped. To see the “king of the jungle” that close, was breath taking. Also were reminded that tigers are actually bigger that lions, but when you see a lion’s mane, size isn’t even a factor anymore. It just the sheer intimidation of being in it’s presence that’s enough to make you pee your pants.

 On Friday and Saturday nights, the sanctuary does night feedings, which apparently is quite the show. And the sanctuary is building beautiful new enclosure for the animals that were almost completed. As a volunteer run, donation supported organization, I think they’re doing great work to rescue these big cats and educate the public. A trip than began as skeptically as anything can, ended in laughs and everyone looking eagerly towards the next time we go back.