Predator Round

I have meant to update before now but have not been for a fortnight, and for the last couple of visits I have done many of the usual things: rodents, sheep, etc. Alex has finished and I think Ariane can't have long left either.

Today's visit though was thoroughly worthwhile and very enjoyable. Due to mad-sounding staff issues, courtesy of the Council, it sounds like not all of the staff may be able to stay on. So, presumably as a caution, Colin let me go on the "predator round" with Sam today, so that I have experience of that.  Firstly I cut up and weighed out a selection of fruit for the lemurs, that would be a nice fruit salad for me and you.
It is done to a strict order, and there is a sheet which you can follow to ensure that everything is done. First of all we went to the sacred ibis, and I swept out their water pool and gave them their food. Sam saw to the lynx, as volunteers are not allowed in with them. Then on to the otters - there are 5 of them and they were squeaking as soon as they saw us coming. There are various tasks to perform in each enclosure: replacing water and food bowls with new ones; replacing bedding or spot-cleaning the enclosure for droppings and litter; cleaning the windows. As I was cleaning the windows, I felt something nudge my ankle. Looking round, I found four otters lined up behind me, curious as anything, and one started biting my trainer. Sam said to shoo them away but they kept coming back!
We also fed the coatis. These 3 south american animals are very appealing and made tiny squeaky noises. They too were inquisitive and ran round looking at me, as I looked for droppings. I'd scattered their food around the enclosure, and they were busy running round finding bits to crunch.
There is a whole block of "preds" so you can go from one enclosure to another, within the safety of a secure corridor. Sam did the ocelot, a female, and then I cleaned the windows in the wildcat enclosure, barn owls, and ring-tailed lemurs. We gave the lemurs bits of banana - they are a family of 3 and they came right over. They have very bright orange eyes, grey fur and dark stripy tails and were making a sort of gulping noise.
After the lemurs, the meerkats. They are much smaller than I think, and, like the otters, were curious enough to come up behind me while I tried to clean the windows, and nip at my shoes! I could hear people on the other side of the glass making remarks about the meerkat on the advert...
More than one person today joked to their child that I was a human in an enclosure, as it seemed like that to them from their side of the glass. Sam said it stopped being funny quite quickly. I thought that people were more interested in watching me clean the windows than looking at the animals...
After sweeping the predator corridor, the next part of the round is the bald-headed ibis. These too make an interesting noise. Two tragopan (tragg-o-pan) share their enclosure: the male is brightly coloured, while the female is darker (the usual in the bird world).  I removed droppings, and also feathers. It was tempting to keep one: they look dark but have a beautiful green sheen.

In the afternoon, I would have happily helped out again but Neil asked if I could do the wallabies. I topped up various animals' water (it's been a hot weekend) and then cleared out the (smelly) wallabies. I saw something moving in the straw! I realised it would not be anything scary, and moved the straw to one side to see. It was a big shiny black beetle - presumably a dung beetle! I left it to get on.

I do not understand the council for the proposed methods of cutting costs; the staff are all very dedicated and knowledgeable and work hard. I realised that I could not keep my own field of animals (which was once my dream) without having many staff and/or volunteers. Plus I have discovered that working with straw makes my eczema itch and my lungs feel like I can't breathe. So that's a pain! But finding out more about the predators this morning and getting close to them was really interesting and I feel privileged to be allowed in with them. But of course, anyone who volunteers can also have this opportunity.