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<v Speaker 1>Good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome, welcome, welcome.

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<v Speaker 1>It's time for our community connection. We have Cheryl King

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<v Speaker 1>from Turpentine Greek Wildlife Refuge, the place where big cats

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<v Speaker 1>call home. I hope I got that right, Cheryl.

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<v Speaker 2>You certainly did. Tom.

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<v Speaker 1>Good morning, well good marketing, because I remembered that. Now.

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<v Speaker 1>What's happening at Turpentine Creek these days?

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<v Speaker 2>Well spring is springing, and Saturday we will be hosting

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<v Speaker 2>our thirty third annual Kite Fest sponsored by Colido Kites.

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<v Speaker 2>Out of your week at springs.

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<v Speaker 1>My goodness sakes, you couldn't have time it any better.

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<v Speaker 1>It's that time of year where there's a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>wind about.

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<v Speaker 2>And the wind is blowing, but it looks like it's

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<v Speaker 2>going to be perfect on Saturday. Just the right amount,

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<v Speaker 2>not too much, yeah, just what we.

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<v Speaker 1>Need, just enough to lift those kites and have some fun.

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<v Speaker 1>And this is a big family to do.

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<v Speaker 2>Isn't it It is? It is? It's free. You can

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<v Speaker 2>amount make a kite. Collido Kites will have kite making.

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<v Speaker 2>They'll also have kites for sale or bring your kite,

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<v Speaker 2>and it's just really a lot of fun when you

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<v Speaker 2>start seeing all these kites up in the air over

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<v Speaker 2>the refuge. The cats enjoy it, and of course the

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<v Speaker 2>kids and the people. We're going to have a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of vendors this year, and we've got a special guest

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<v Speaker 2>that's going to be making an appearance.

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<v Speaker 1>You tell we do.

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<v Speaker 2>It's going to be Strike, the mascot for the Northwest

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<v Speaker 2>Arkansas Naturals.

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<v Speaker 1>Wow.

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<v Speaker 2>So yeah, what's better than a cat but a sasquatch.

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<v Speaker 1>This is going to be so much fun. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>your Turpetite Creek is right there in Eureka Springs.

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<v Speaker 2>Right, Yes, we are. We're seven miles south on a

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<v Speaker 2>Highway twenty three.

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<v Speaker 1>There you go. So all you got to do if

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<v Speaker 1>you're coming in from Bartlesville is hit Eureka Springs, take

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<v Speaker 1>a right, and then you'll be there. Just follow the

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<v Speaker 1>signs because they're all over the place too. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>the kite flying event is going to be a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of fun for the whole family. But the refuge itself

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<v Speaker 1>is something that families would want to maybe think about

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<v Speaker 1>taking in to just see what it's all about. What

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<v Speaker 1>can you see there? I guess the shorter list is

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<v Speaker 1>what you can't see.

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<v Speaker 2>This is true, this is true. Coming in you should

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<v Speaker 2>be able to see our grizzly bear bam bam. Now

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<v Speaker 2>it is spring and so he's probably he still is

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<v Speaker 2>very much in his torpor state. They're starting to wake up,

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<v Speaker 2>you know. We've just come out of some cold weather

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<v Speaker 2>here at the beginning of the month. But things are

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<v Speaker 2>warming up and the bears are waking up. You'll also

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<v Speaker 2>get to see our tigers, lions, leopard. We have cougars, servis,

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<v Speaker 2>and bobcats among others.

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<v Speaker 1>My goodness sakes, that's amazing. Now, how did we all

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<v Speaker 1>get started here with turpe and tig Creek has been

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<v Speaker 1>around a while. Some people kind of forget in the beginning.

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<v Speaker 2>As they say, this is true in nineteen ninety two,

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<v Speaker 2>So thirty three years ago we started. And it began

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<v Speaker 2>with a woman that had thirty three animals that were

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<v Speaker 2>crammed into two cattle cars, and it was obvious that

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<v Speaker 2>something was needed to take care of those animals. And

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<v Speaker 2>the Jackson family sold everything, bought this property and created

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<v Speaker 2>Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. And who knew that thirty three

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<v Speaker 2>years later we would still be filling this need, that

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<v Speaker 2>there was such a need. You know, these animals, Tom,

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<v Speaker 2>they're not household pets. You can't take a tiger or

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<v Speaker 2>a lion or a bobcat and turn them into a pet.

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<v Speaker 2>They're a wild animal, they're a predator. They just don't

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<v Speaker 2>belong in their homes, and sadly people find that out.

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<v Speaker 2>It's heartbreaking for everybody involved. But we're happy to provide

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<v Speaker 2>them or forever home.

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<v Speaker 1>And sometimes there are cases where people will attempt to

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<v Speaker 1>maybe even showcase these big cats and I think that

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<v Speaker 1>they can take care of them, and they find out

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<v Speaker 1>as they kind of age, they can't. And this is

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<v Speaker 1>a place where I know some have come from, like Florida,

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<v Speaker 1>in place like that.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes they have. We've actually taken in cats all over

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<v Speaker 2>the country now, from upstate New York to California, all

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<v Speaker 2>the way down to Florida. You're right, Carol Baskins, we

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<v Speaker 2>all know that name. She sold Big Cat Rescue earlier

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<v Speaker 2>this year and in twenty twenty three we relocated all

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<v Speaker 2>of her animals. They are now here at Turpentine Creek

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<v Speaker 2>Wildlife Refuge. We have over one hundred animals and a

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<v Speaker 2>good many of those did come from Tiger King. We've

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<v Speaker 2>got twenty tigers and lions that were part of confiscations

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<v Speaker 2>related to them, and.

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<v Speaker 1>You give them a great place to live out Their

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<v Speaker 1>life is about as close to naturally as possible.

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<v Speaker 2>Absolutely, that is our commitment to them. Our vision is

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<v Speaker 2>to educate and have people come in and learn so

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<v Speaker 2>that we can put an end. You know, we are

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<v Speaker 2>a nonprofit that is trying to work itself out of business.

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<v Speaker 2>It's hard to believe we keep taking in more animals,

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<v Speaker 2>but that is our goal. And yes, we give them

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<v Speaker 2>all a natural habitat. They have their nighthouses and then

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<v Speaker 2>their big grassy habitats that allow them to live as

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<v Speaker 2>close as they could to life in the wild. These

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<v Speaker 2>animals could never survive in the wild. They would be

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<v Speaker 2>a danger to any human and they likely wouldn't survive.

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<v Speaker 2>They don't know how to hunt. They were never taught,

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<v Speaker 2>so they just it would be tragic to try to

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<v Speaker 2>release them into the wild. So we give them the

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<v Speaker 2>best life possible.

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<v Speaker 1>That brings the next question, how do you feed all

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<v Speaker 1>those cats?

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you to Tysons, big shout out to Tysons, and

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<v Speaker 2>also a shout out to Walmart. You know, Tom, we're

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<v Speaker 2>feeding hundreds of pounds of meat a day. Each of

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<v Speaker 2>these animals is on a unique individualized diet based on

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<v Speaker 2>their particular needs. But it's anywhere from ten to fifteen

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<v Speaker 2>pounds of meat per cat per day. And then our bears,

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<v Speaker 2>oh my goodness, don't get me started. We need all

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<v Speaker 2>kinds of food for bears, the produce and the you know,

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<v Speaker 2>they need fresh veggies. So that stuff's got to be

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<v Speaker 2>turned around pretty quickly. And it's not cheap.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and those bears will eat dart near anything.

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<v Speaker 2>They sure will. Bambam's favorite is a peanut butter sandwich.

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<v Speaker 1>I'll be darn, I had no idea. Let's get back

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<v Speaker 1>to the kite thing here. It's coming up this weekend, right.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, sir, it will be on Saturday, March twenty second.

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<v Speaker 2>The fun will start at ten o'clock. Vendors will start

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<v Speaker 2>packing up at about three. But if you've got a

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<v Speaker 2>kite in the air, you're welcome to stay as long

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<v Speaker 2>as you'd like.

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<v Speaker 1>And that is that Turpentine Creek, and that is in

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<v Speaker 1>Eureka Springs. Hey, if some folks might not be able

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<v Speaker 1>to get away to enjoy the park this weekend, but

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<v Speaker 1>if say they got a thousand dollars bill in their pocket,

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<v Speaker 1>is just burn in a hole and they're thinking, well,

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<v Speaker 1>this sounds like a pretty good outfit to support. How

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<v Speaker 1>do they go about making a donation?

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, go check us out on our website www Dot

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<v Speaker 2>TCWR dot org. Do's www dot TCWR dot org. And

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<v Speaker 2>there are lots of ways that you can help support

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<v Speaker 2>the animals from just a straight donation, purchasing a membership.

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<v Speaker 2>You can adopt or sponsor one of our animals, and

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<v Speaker 2>each of those comes with its own you know, you

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<v Speaker 2>get your individual packages that come with a membership for example,

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<v Speaker 2>or an adoption or a sponsorship. All of that is

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<v Speaker 2>on our website.

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<v Speaker 1>Very good, Thank you very much for being with us today.

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<v Speaker 2>Such a pleasure, Tom, Thank you for having me