This month has been our first month after our Summer opening, and are quickly getting back in to our routine of school groups and photographic days. Despite being closed to the public during the week, we are still open every day to private booked groups be that educational tours for school children or college students, or photographic days for keen photographers.
I often get asked "you must be looking forward to being closed during the week after the summer holidays when it will be a bit quieter for you?" during the summer, but it is actually the other way around. We have groups booked in every day when we are closed, and have to look after them as well as all the usual animal routines you see us do when we are open... so although still busy, our days when we are open to the public are a little more relaxed for us.
Anyway... enough of that, what new animals news from this month... well, just the one big news story I guess, and that is our new badger Blossom!
Blossom came to us from a rescue centre where she had been reared from a cub after being hit by a car. This accident has given her a very distinctive feature of a bent nose, but otherwise she seems fine. Despite being reared alongside other badgers, and with every intent for her to go back to the wild, she became too friendly and we were asked if we would be able to offer her a permanent home here.
She really is a special badger... not only does she seem friendly, but seems to crave human interaction. She keeps herself to herself, but when we are doing routine in her enclosure she always comes over to say hello without prompting. Then again in the evening comes to say hello, have a cuddle and usually ends up falling asleep on your lap.
She will slowly be introduced to the rest of our clan in the lead up tot he end of the year, and hopefully we will be able to offer badger talks again next year. In the meantime our whole clan are still easily seen in our observation badger sett.
