How To Build A Jungle Gym For Your Leopard Lounge....

The first thing you need to build a Jungle Gym in your Leopard Lounge is a Handy Friend with a Chainsaw. And Tree Skills. High on the list of things that are really cool about being involved in Derby (and it's a long list, but that's another blog) is chances are there will always be someone on your team who has skills you lack and you rarely have to look further than your teammates for help. Meet Arm and Slam'er. (Hereafter referred to as simply "Slam'er. Good name for her. Trust me, when she hits you....Oops digressing again)

And you need a tree. A nice big old dead one.

This has got to be one of, if not THE most Zen Chainsawing pictures ever taken, if I do say so myself. Clearly, it's an art form.

Now, the next step involves some pondering. You can't just take the whole Tree Beast, you need to cut it up into manageable portions. That's Stunt Double on the left. Boss has been to only the one Bout so far, but she is definitely his favorite skater. He still talks about her. (Boss is a fine judge of skating. The women, hereafter referred to as SD, can SKATE. Stopping there or I'll risk this turning into a Derby blog. Again)

Once you have your Tree Beast cut up into manageable, creative, interestingly shaped pieces and loaded onto your handy truck, the real fun starts.

The Bengals were very involved, of course, in the process. That's Madame Mim there, running about, while Slam'er and SD begin to build. I tried to be helpful, but there was a certain, um, feeling, going on that perhaps things would go better if I didn't help so much. No worries, I have other skills and did fine with taking pics, making lunch and bringing beers. SOmeday I'm going to chainsaw something tho...

Venus does a lot of disapproving some days, especially when anything changes, but I think she is liking this. This is her first venture out onto the branches.

Venus is a later generation Bengal, an F4, which means she is four generations away from the Asian Leopard Cat. Even four generations away from Leopard is a LOT of cat. There's a saying with Bengals that once you have one, you don't try and make them adapt to your house. You adapt for them. That's the way it works. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to make them happy. Not every Bengal is going to need a Leopard Lounge, many are quite happy as indoor kitties, but these wanted OUT. So I made it possible.

Mim knows what she wants. She's ready for some climbing. This entire project came about because Mim has some serious pee issues and was wrecking my Spooky House. Tried everything, and finally, got her on some Kitty Prozac, and built her a Leopard Lounge. It's working. I don't think tho that Bengals are any more prone to pee issues than any cat. I have five (The Royals, King Lear the Huge and Little Queen Mab live upstairs. They will get a Scream porch soon, and we'll do a feature on them)

Here's SD attempting to tie up a branch with some sisal rope. Venus is helping her. I love the expression on Venus's face "What? Me? Not doing nothing here..."

Bengals like to climb, and have no trouble with leaps up to 8 feet. Cat trees, entertainment centers, refrigerators are all favorite leaps. Once UP on something, they will regale you with entires dialogs about their amazing leaps. Non-stop. And where most cats are pretty much limited to "Mew", Bengals make a variety of sounds which vary from screams to bird-like noises. They TALK.

They like hiding too, and having places to lounge in. Indoor Bengals may and will, trust me, enjoy boxes. They will sit in them proudly. Defend them, and regale in the experience. Everything these kitties do is full on. You do not want them to be bored. They WILL find something to do.

This is Magic, he's an F1, meaning his Daddy was an Asian Leopard and Mum was an early Generation Bengal. You'll have to go back thru the blog to read his entire story, but it makes my heart so happy to see HIM so happy now, and able to be what he is, and also, know love. It took a long time.

I don't have any pictures of him climbing on the Jungle Gym, but just a moment ago, I took a break to show skater Jinx'd Karma and ref Hard Left the Leopard Lounge and they got to see Magic climbing for the first time. Amazing moment. Magic has NO claws. All four gone. One of the biggest problems with the Early Generation Bengals is that people decide to get one (and spend an average of $3000 on one) and DO NOT know what they are doing. No clue. It's the "Cute little kitty with spots" syndrome. When the Cute Kitty turns into a teenager and oh my, starts acting like a Leopard, they are not prepared. He gets a new home. And another. And ends up in a shelter, who won't take him, because, this is not an animal that is adoptable.

That's Magic's story. And that's where we come in, at Great Lakes Bengal Rescue. We save them.

We are now entering the Way To Many Bengal Picture territory, but as I have not yet heard anyone complain, we will go on....

And on....(I suppose this would be a good moment to insert the story of how I got STUNG in the "lower back region" by an Evil WASP, while hauling branches to the truck and ran screaming, tearing my clothes off as I ran, not at MY house where I have been battling Evil WASPS all week, but at Boss's, but I think we'll let that one go. All I can say is that they have some sort of WASP Instant Message thing going on, and they ARE out to get me.)

And on. Here's the three of them lounging. It was HOT today. Whole lot of sweat going on, and I can't thank Slam'er and SD enough for coming and building my Leopards a Jungle Gym. I've never seen Venus, Mim and Magic so happy, and I'm not sure they can know how wonderful a gift this was, for me and the Bengals. I couldn't have done it without them. Really, really couldn't have. THANK YOU! (Insert Derby Love Moment here)

Gentle Readers, I give you: The Leopard Lounge!

Love and Leopards,

Lorraine