T&D's is licensed by the state and federal governments to house and exhibit the animals. Both agencies have regulations we must follow. One part of these regulations deals with enclosures. Enclosures are designed with the particular species in mind and their specific needs. For example the regulations include pen size, wire strength and height, shelter, number of animals allowed in the area, etc. At T&D's we exceed all state requirements and either meet or exceed federal requirements. We try to give the animals as much room as physically and financially possible. When funding is available, T&D’s tries to provide large enclosures for the animals.  At T&D's, our family and volunteers are the construction team! We build 99% of the exhibits ourselves, minimizing the costs. However, materials are still expensive! Please Help !



Our first large area was finished in Spring 1998. This was two 1/2 acre areas for the African lions. Since lions live mainly in grasslands, we only allowed a few trees to remain for shade. Both areas have platforms to allow the cats to get up off the ground. This area was made possible by the kind donation from Tony and his family.

     

Left: The "pride" enjoying their "jungle gym" on a winter day.
Middle: Zar taking it easy. 
Right: Tasha and Tabby share the platform.

In 1999, a large cougar exercise area was constructed.  This area allows the cougars to stretch and run!  It is roughly 40 foot x 120 foot long.  Special Thank You to Cathryn for her generous donation for materials.

May 2000 was a great month for the tigers!  We were able to finish a 2 acre tiger exercise enclosure complete with a grass "pasture", forested area, and pond.

We wanted to make it possible for more tigers to have larger areas.  In March 2002, we were able to finish three 1/3 acre areas.  We have a few siblings that get along and are able to house 2 tigers in each area.

The black bears needed a new enclosure.  In 2003, with help from Bucknell's Management 101 "Company B", we were able to complete a one acre black bear corral.   This is a wooded area with plenty of wild black raspberries and elderberries for the bears to forage!

Special Thank You to Tom and Ann Marie for donating monies for the materials and their time to construct a larger leopard enclosure in 2004.  This enclosure has a "pond" and a "tree".  The two leopards that live in this area cool off in their tub on the extremely hot summer days.  After taking a dip, they leap up to their15 foot high platform to survey their "jungle". 

        
                       
Top left: TJ working on the platforms in the tower.   Top right: Almost the entire enclosure.
Bottom left: Baggie investigating his new enclosure.   Bottom right: Tendwa taking a rest.

In the summer of 2005, two new enclosures were finished, an acre wolf-dog area and a primate exhibit.    
 Primate Housing        Wolf-Dog Enclosure

Jeff Bower's Memorial was finished in 2006 to honor the life of one of our volunteers.  Jeff Bowers was a T&D’s volunteer who was suddenly diagnosed with leukemia in May 2003. He died in July 2004. Jeff was a very kind, sincere, dedicated nature/animal lover and a T&D’s volunteer. His memory will live with us and with others who visit T&D’s through the wetland memorial we have dedicated in his name. We are lucky, as Jeff pointed out one day, to have a natural vernal pool on our property.

In order to preserve this natural area and the plants within it, it was fenced off from our white-tailed deer. In June, the dock was completed for visitors to get closer to this area. There are benches to enjoy the area a little longer and informational posters that explain the importance of wetlands and the species that use these areas.
       
A tribute to Jeff from our family reads: Over the years, T&D’s has had only a handful of volunteers, one of which was Jeff Bowers. We met Jeff and Debi, Jeff’s wife, through our veterinarians, Julie Irwin and Steve Pokorny, in November 2002. Jeff was immediately interested in helping, and wanted to volunteer. Jeff helped complete the spider monkey area, and the black bear pen. He also showed great interest in a wetland area preserved on T&D’s property. Jeff was a resourceful and dependable worker. He arrived for work with a smile on his face and, despite working with Terry, left with one. Jeff was anxious to learn new things and had much to offer us as well. He was soft spoken and hard working.

A memory which we will all carry with us came about one snowy day in the winter of 2003. We have cared for animals since 1985. In those 19 years, we have come to know many people who want to help. On this snowy day, it was not one of these people we have known for years, it was not one of our neighbors, it was Jeff, who drove through the snow covered roads and pulled into our driveway. He stepped out of his truck with his typical warm smile ready to help us shovel snow off of pens. At that time, we had known him for just 2 months. That was Jeff. We will all miss him very much.

NEW COATI ENCLOSURE COMPLETED IN APRIL 2007.

The coati, Nasua narica, enclosure was completed near the end of April!  The coatis had some help from Bucknell University’s Management 101 Class.  The students in this class are divided into “companies”. Each company consists of 20-30 students.  Each company chooses an organization and a project to help during the semester.  After the company decides on a fundraiser, they sell their product on campus.  The monies generated from the fundraiser are for the project.  The students also scheduled work days to provide manual labor. 

Students sold discount cards to be used at 16 (sixteen) Lewisburg businesses!  Discounts ranged from a “$1.00 off a product” to “buy one get one free”.  Businesses include: Papa John’s, Brubaker’s Clothier, A.Ray’s Tanning Co., Domino’s Pizza, Zelda’s Café, Lewisburg Hotel, Champion Shoe, Mike’s @512, Gingerbread house, Quizno’s, Yung Ting Restaurant, Taco Bell, The Celtic Exchange, Brookpark Station Café, Stein’s Flowers & Gifts, and Myra’s Café.  One great plus to this card is that it can be used numerous times until January 2008!  The students sold most of the cards and raised $3,000.00 for the enclosure!  Since the materials ran more than were estimated, this only covered some of the cost of the enclosure.  Discount cards are still available at $5.00 each.  Please contact us if you would like to purchase one.

Construction of the enclosure went well.  We built the frames for the den and outside enclosures.  Students carried the frames to the new area and assisted with attaching the frames together.  Since coatis like to dig, wire was needed on the floor to prevent them from digging out.  The students attached the wire and moved gravel into the pen to cover up the wire.  Large plastic drainage pipe was used to connect the outside enclosure to the den area.  The coatis can easily run in and out of the pipe to get from the den area to the outside enclosure.  Students collected and stacked rocks around the pipes.  Coatis, related to the raccoon, like to climb.  Students gathered logs and carefully attached them in the enclosure for the coatis to climb and investigate.  On April 20, the coatis were moved and had access to their new home.

We were very pleased with the effort and enthusiasm the students gave throughout this project.  Thank you, Management 101 Company D, for making the lives of the coatis better!

COYOTE ENCLOSURE FINISHED JUNE 2007
 On June 20, the coyotes were moved into their new ½ acre enclosure just in time for the “Howl with the Big Dogs” event on June 23.  Not only do the coyotes have more room to run and play, but they also have a huge mound of brush and dirt to play “king of the hill”!  Sunshine, the blond colored coyote, can usually be seen on top of the mound.  Since the move, they have also pushed sticks and logs around making their own den.

“Howl with the Big Dogs” was held on June 23 to celebrate the opening of the coyote enclosure.  The event compared fox, coyote and wolves by allowing visitors to make the animals’ foot prints and identify scat, claws, and photos.  Sounds of the animals were also played.  Enclosure and event sponsored in part by Snyder County Tourism Fund.
     

From left to right: View of new coyote enclosure.  Den in background.  Scooter getting ready to howl.  Sunshine excited.   Bottom photo: A sample of “Howl with the Big Dogs” event.  Replica scat and claws of fox, coyote and wolf.  Photos of canid behavior.

NEW BINTURONG ENCLOSURES in 2007!
Four of the binturongs were moved to two new enclosures the beginning of August 2007!  We were very excited to finish two 16x16x10 ft outside enclosures for the younger binturongs.  The outside enclosures provide climbing opportunities and room to play.  We would like to add two small tubs to allow the binturongs to splash around during warmer days.  A 10x16x10 ft. inside housing area is attached to the outside enclosures to provide protection from the weather especially during Pennsylvania winters.  The housing area also has a small work area for caretakers to store food, pine chips and toys. 

POWERFUL PAWS - THE CELEBRATION OF OUR NEWEST TIGER ENCLOSURE
September 20, 2008

A very large project in 2008 was three new tiger enclosures.  Each enclosure is approximately 1/3 acre!  Not only are these large enclosures difficult to physically construct but they are also a large expense.  We expanded the actual refuge for these enclosures.  What this means is not only did we need to construct the enclosure but we had to add exterior fencing and an access road.  The exterior fence which is required by the USDA, must be at least 8 foot high and surround the entire new area.  The access road is not required by law, but it is something that we need in order to check the fence line and to move large equipment for repairs or emergencies (fire trucks).  We are estimated that this new area will be finished at the earliest in September.  Completion depends on funding, weather, and man power (in that order).

The trees were cleared, stumps removed, and ground prepared.  The posts for the exterior fence, tiger fence, and barrier fence (this is the fence required to keep visitors from touching the animals) were pounded in the ground.  The cost of the posts alone is already $7,000.00.  The next part of the project was bringing in loads of shale for the access road.  This is a huge project but we took it one step at a time.

Work continued during April and May on the new tiger enclosures as we begin to attach the wire panels to the poles.  A slight set back arose when about 15 of the posts were too far apart for the wire panels to meet.  New posts need to be pounded into the ground to shorten the distance between them.  Hopefully the new posts will be in place soon so that progress can continue.

After several months of working on the new tiger enclosures, we saw that the end was near.  Each of the three enclosures is approximately 1/3 of an acre.  These areas are much larger than where three of our existing tigers currently live.  The pole pounders were back in June 2008 to correct the distances between a few of the poles that were previously pounded in March 2008.  Thousands of dollars of wire was attached to the perimeter, visitor, and enclosure fences.  A “work road” was made along the outside of the perimeter fence to allow large vehicles to access other areas of T&D’s.  Drainage pipes were placed in specific areas to allow the mountain run off to flow with ease.  During July and August work continued on the dens.  The cement pads were poured and the framework began.  The three dens were framed and wire attached.  Metal roofing was added to the sides and roof to provide more protection from the weather.  Den and enclosure doors were also completed.  A few trees were needed in each area to provide shade for the tigers.  We purchased 9 trees and three large pin oaks were donated by Gilbert's Garden Center in Shamokin Dam.  Thank you!
            

“Powerful Paws”, held on September 20, was the event to celebrate the opening of our newest tiger enclosure.  All three tigers were moved just in time for the event.  Sheena, Tyrone and Spaz each have 1/3 of an acre to roam in.  These enclosures are over 4 times larger than where they were living!  We were very excited to accomplish this area for these tigers.  If you haven’t seen this new area, be sure to visit us this coming summer.  We received few donations for this project, but none the less managed to complete it.  Donations would be greatly appreciated to help with existing bills accumulated during this project.   Indicate “Tiger Enclosure” on your donation.

   
Photo left: Powerful Paws information. Middle: Sheena in his new large enclosure. Right: Tyrone "hiding" in the grass.
Please help by sending a donation today.