exotic feline breeding compound

Ringing in the New Year, 2016

January 2, 2016 by Melodye Shore

Another turn of the calendar page, and here we are, standing at the threshold of 2016. We had a quiet celebration, here at Chez Shore. No fireworks, no champagne flutes at midnight…we just reveled in each other’s company, and that of longtime friends. After dinner, we hiked to a beautiful vantage point, not far from our home. We watched in awe as the sun extinguished its fire in the Pacific Ocean, but not before putting its final punctuation mark on the year.

I’ve been reflecting today on the highlights of 2015, while also imagining the possibilities for 2016. No, I’m not planning to write a formal list of New Year’s resolutions–an illustrated journal page is more my style. In 2015, for instance, I created a collage of sorts for the word SUSTAIN, a multi-faceted theme that I oftentimes referenced.

I haven’t yet settled on a word for this year, but from my 2015 catalog of pictures and blogs, I pulled together a brief retrospective. Here, some of the myriad people and events that sustained me last year. I invite you to revisit those special moments with me, and to consider how we might respond this year to Mary Oliver’s question:

Tell me…

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Oh Happy Day! Harlem Gospel Choir workshop & onstage performance (February)

What is it you plan to do…

His Holiness, XIV Dalai Lama talks about compassion, on the occasion of his 80th Birthday Celebration (July)

With your one…

Leaf-peeping in history-steeped New England, and the singularly successful book launch of Jeannine Atkins’ LITTLE WOMAN IN BLUE, a novel about May Alcott (October)

Wild…

A well-nourished leopard guards his “prey,” at the Exotic Feline Breeding Compound and Conservation Center (April)

And precious…

This ray of sunshine, also known as my grandson (August)

Life?

A backyard metamorphosis, from caterpillar to chrysalis to winged beauty (June)

Wishing you a joyful 2016, in which your relationships nurture and inspire you, and every day’s a grand adventure.

(Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? was excerpted from Mary Oliver’s hugely popular poem, A Summer Day. )

Art Challenge of the Week: Creating abundance

November 27, 2015 by Melodye Shore

“Abundance is not something we acquire,” Wayne Dyer once said, “It is something we tune into.” I wholeheartedly agree. It’s not about having, or doing, or aspirational thinking. The Secret (if there is one) is to be fully present in each moment, wholly appreciative of the gifts available to us in the here and now.

It’s the ability to see a hummingbird’s nest for the iridescent promises it holds…

And to greet unannounced guests as if they belonged, as if this were the plan all along.

Abundance reveals itself when you wade, unafraid, into frothy waters.

Sometimes it appears as if by magic–shimmery bouquets from a bubble wand, for instance.

It presents itself in expansive moments of peaceful awareness,

Expresses itself as joyful noise or a whispered “amen.”

Abundance is a splashy little thing,

With a graceful elegance.

It’s a timeless beauty, capable of endless transformations.

Abundance can be of our own making, of course–bread dough, for instance, set to rise in a warm kitchen.

Perfect in its imperfections, it fills us with a delicious sense of well-being.

Abundance is the secret gardens we tend…

Within each seed of awareness, an abundant harvest.

I snapped these photos over the course of this past year. They speak to grand adventures and simple delights, quiet beauty and occasions that shout, Behold! It’s a curated collection, brief glimpses of the whole story, but when I remember these wide-eyed, breathless moments, I’m filled anew with gratitude for the abundance they represent.

How apropos, that Thanksgiving week prompted the challenge word abundance. Want to see more? Visit Veronica Roth’s page and follow the links. My responses to previous challenge words are available here.

Coats of many colors, shapes and sizes

April 26, 2015 by Melodye Shore

One of my Facebook friends set forth a creative challenge: Interpret the word coats as you wish—with paints, colored pencils and pens, needlecrafts, photography, you name it. As luck would have it, Serendipity worked her magic again! We’d already bought tickets for the Exotic Feline Breeding Compound’s Twilight Tour, and I couldn’t imagine a better place for a fashion shoot. So many exquisitely designed and constructed coats, custom-tailored to Mother Nature’s most discerning customers!

By way of background, the EFBC is a breeding zoo and research facility in the high desert of Rosamond, California. As you can see from this set of photographs, the compound isn’t a money-making enterprise. It’s isolated and minimalistic. And yet, it’s occupied by more than 70 of the world’s most endangered and exotic felines. They rely on special events to help bring in money for research, construction of new facilities, and ongoing animal care.

Make no mistake about it, though: their cats are well-nourished and don’t suffer for any lack of attention.

White tiger, eagerly awaiting a volunteer’s treat

When they’re not napping or seeking refuge from the midday sun, you get much closer views than you would at most zoos–especially during their Twilight Tours, when visitors are granted all-access passes to the entire compound. Cats are more active at night anyway, but volunteers entice them into the open with treats enrichment items: crushed peppermint and lavender, to stimulate their sense of smell; phone books, which they rip to shreds in minutes; hard-boiled eggs, raw chicken strips and watermelon, all of which disappears in a flash.

Jaguar makes quick work of a watermelon

You can learn a lot by simply observing. Touching is verboten, but you can always read (a good source) and ask questions. We were among the last to leave, and I brought home a whole wardrobe of bespoke coats, photographed on the owners who wear them best.

A tiger’s stripes are like fingerprints—the pattern is individual to each cat.

A leopard’s low-slung, muscular form is covered with skin-deep, closely spaced rosettes that serve as contrast to its tawny coat.

Black leopards have spots, too, though you might not see them at first glance.

Jaguars have substantially larger heads and jaws than leopards do. They are beefy beasts! Notice the occasional dot in the middle of those rosettes? Those markings helps distinguish them from leopards—which, as you know, never change their spots.

White tigers are showy, but beneath that exotic exterior, they’re genetically similar to their orange-tinted brothers.

Snow leopards are shy. They have closely spaced rosettes over a pale, thick coat that keeps them warm and serves as camouflage in the snow.

Bobcats have facial ruffs and tufted ears. Their fur is multi-colored, sometimes with ticking, stripes and spots.

I could go on and on, so impressed was I with Mother Nature’s haute couture. But I’ll just leave you with a few extra coats, how’s that? Look closely at the markings, shapes, and colors…Can you identify the owners?

Twilight Tour of the Cat House

June 26, 2012 by Melodye Shore

This past weekend, we took a road trip to ~~the wilderness~~ Rosamond. Just north of Los Angeles, Rosamond's an old mining town in the Antelope Valley, a place best known for its poppy fields. Oh, and Edwards Air Force base. Our destination, however, was the Exotic Feline Breeding Compound’s Feline Conservation Center (aka “The Cat House”).

The Cat House plays host to 70+ feline residents: tigers, servals, clouded leopards, margays and more, oh my! Three times a year, they host a twilight tour of their facilities. Tickets are $20.00, for which you’re granted rare camera privileges, plus access to areas that are normally off-limits. For animal lovers like us, it’s an event of a lifetime. And with subjects like this, it seemed the perfect time & place to try out my new camera!

As with their domesticated counterparts, exotic breeds are most active after sundown. Attendants gave them feline “enrichment items” (aka special treats) to entice them out of their lairs. It takes a different form in wild animals, of course. Leopards crushed watermelons with powerful jaws; jaguars shredded phone books with claws and teeth; fishing cats captured goldfish in their paws. Playful as they are–and even in this controlled habitat–you never lose sight of the fact that these are dangerous creatures.

A black leopard) paced the length of his enclosure the entire time we were there. You might think he was agitated, but truth be told, I think he just wanted us to notice his sleek black coat. And why yes, we do see those rippled muscles under there!

Here, a white tiger ("Katmandu") tears into a giant log–an aggressive display, designed to intimidate the Bengal tiger next door.

Caesar doesn’t seem all that impressed.

Peacocks took to the rooftops, screaming for attention. “Look at me, look at me,” they seemed to say. But for all their preening, they got very little attention.

Although very shy as a rule, even the snow leopards deigned to make an appearance. (If you imagine hard enough, the cages fade from view, allowing the animals to come front and center.)

We prowled the grounds for several hours. But if you know cats, you’ll know they can’t stay awake for very long. They drowsed, and we felt ourselves getting sleepy, too, so we said our goodbyes and headed home.