Sadly last Friday Clyde the pine marten passed away. He died peacefully in his sleep of old age, he wasn't far from twenty! Many of you who have visited over the end of last year, early this year, will know he was getting very frail and slow. Due to his cataracts he was blind for the last few months, but knowing his pen inside out was still able to climb and wander around to find everything.
Working closely with our animals, you always build a bond with them, and as most of you will know I had a particular bond with our pine martens. Clyde was one of the first pine martens I ever worked with, and as such helped to guide and nurture my love and respect for these beautiful animals. I spent a lot of time working with him on an almost daily basis, and as such he was arguably the most friendliest pine marten you would of met!
Losing an animal is always a sad time, but some hit your harder than others. I talk to the animals, crazy I know, but I really think it helps them to associate your voice with calm and stressless times. Clyde I used to talk to about everything, all the good and bad going on in my little world, and so in some ways you could say he knew me better than anyone!