The summer holidays are upon us, and from tomorrow (Wednesday the 22nd of July) we will be open to the public every day until the Wednesday the 2nd of September.
Our new arrivals this year could not of timed their development better, as they are all ready to be out in their new enclosures for you to meet. Our red squirrel kittens are all pretty much grown up now in their walkthrough enclosure, and it will be difficult to tell them apart from the adults.
Most obvious at still being this years young are our deer. We have both red deer calves, and fallow deer fawns like the one above. They are at the age now where they have started to venture over for feeds and talks, so I am sure you will get to see them if you decide to visit over the coming weeks.
Ygritte, one of our new weasels, is now old enough to be moved in to her new home. She has been introduced to the second half of our "hedgerow" weasel pen. Being as friendly as she is, she will be ideal for school children to see along with her neighbour weasel Dr Ray.
Over the summer we hope she will settle and get used to Dr Ray, so that next year we can pair them up for breeding.
Another new weasel, Neve, has been introduced to one of our outside photographic pens opposite the polecats and next to our older and more established weasel. She is a real character, so try to spend some time with her if you can.
Samwell, our stoat, was introduced to our "hedgerow" stoat enclosure at the end of last week. He has settled well, and today we opened up the main section for him to explore too. As with Ygritte, he is very friendly, and so will lbw ideal to show school groups who visit... and to show them the difference between stoats and weasels.
Oriel's polecat kitts are old enough now to be feeding for themselves, and venturing out to explore... although not as often as our previous litters. They are still quite shy, but if you spend a bit of time at their enclosure you will get a glimpse of them running over the mounds and through the tunnels.
The best time to get a sighting is in the afternoon. Once fed, you can often see them chasing mum while she tries to store the food away.
Tyrion, the little owl, is not so little anymore... he, or quite possibly a she, is a "big" little owl! Yesterday he had his boots put on for the first time, meaning he will be able to come out to meet and greet the public over the summer.
He will slowly be introduced to the display talks over the summer. His training is currently going really well, so hopefully by the end of the summer he will be a fully qualified member of the flying team!
