Polecats

A new schedule of 'Keepers Talks' are in place for the run up to the Summer holidays. You can see the full list of half hourly talks on the keeper talk page linked above, but the only change is the removal of the afternoon red squirrel talk which has been replaced with a polecat talk.

The Red Squirrel enclosure is continuing to be a huge success, but unfortunately with the leaves growing on the trees it is making it harder to see the squirrels in their new home. For those patient enough to spend some time in the enclosure, you will be blessed with un-rivalled views of squirrels in a natural habitat in captivity. Many photographers come and spend a whole day in there and walk away with fantastic photographs for their time. We will be releasing more squirrels into the enclosure next week which will hopefully settle down in time to add the afternoon talk back into the schedule for the Summer.

In the meantime, after a successful Winter members day talk, the Polecats have a chance to take their 10 minutes of fame everyday. 2.30pm we will be on hand feeding our collection of polecats and talking about them and their life in the wild. We also have kitts at the moment, so give it another 6 weeks or so and you will see the youngsters running out and about as well.

Just a reminder we are open every day this week due to the schools being on half-term. Hope to see many of you here.

Babies at the Centre

So it seems that Spring is finally here, and all the babies are starting to come out. We have been very successful this year, with most of our mammals producing young. Full updates on each of the animals will be posted over the coming days/weeks, but for now here is a summary...

Red Squirrel kittens are now out and about, and I have quite a few ready to make their graduation to our walk-through enclosure during the week after half-term. Some of the mothers are even pregnant with their second litter already!

Wildcat kittens are going from strength to strength. They have not been seen out yet, but on checking them a couple of days a go I can confrim that Iona has had one kitten, while Kendra gave birth to three. They are now almost 4 weeks old so I would expect them to start to emerge at the end of next week.

Yesterday our first red deer calf of the year was born, a little early this year, but seems to be looking good and healthy. Expect many more to be born over the following week.

Willow has indeed had just the one fawn, but she is a stunning youngster. Mum is doing very well and seems quite at ease to feed her while the public are about, much to the delight of our photographic groups this week.

Of course as well as these we have Flo's cubs, badger cubs, our weasel is expecting, possibly stoat youngsters to come, polecat kits, hedgehog hoglets, all the usual mice, rats and voles. In fact it seems we have it all except otters, which could still happen this year as they can breed all year round, and pine martens which it seems now I will have to wait at least one more year for.

As well as the mammals the owl chicks are doing extremely well, and Katie has been doing a fantastic job in rearing them. I hope to have them on the flying team by the Summer. A new kestrel chick will be arriving in a few weeks to add to the afternoon bird display. And for the scaley animals... I am confident that one of our female adders will have a litter of neonates at the end of the Summer.

Check back for updates on all these new arrivals over the coming weeks.

As well as our animals, we also have the usual "wild" wildlife breeding around the Centre. Foxes, waterfowl, birds, deer. But none as close as this nest of pied wagtails below...

If you look closely you may see 3 chicks in the nest, and if you look at the picture below zoomed out a bit you will notice they have decided to rear them on the top of an old gas cylinder. Surprisingly this bottle is right alongside an area with much hustle and bustle going on everyday, yet the parents seem very happy with the site and are becoming very friendly themselves.

If you like, I can keep you updated on their progress... Springwatch style : )

Oh, by the way... great names suggestions for the short-eared owl, but I have gone with "Fawkes" Name of the phoenix in Harry Potter, and a reference to the Latin name of the owl, flammeus, "in flame."

Willow has a fawn

Photo taken by Peter Hedger

Willow, our roe doe gave birth last Friday to a fawn. Usually roe deer have twins, but we have only seen her with one over the weekend. This is not much of a worry as it is possible for them to have just the one, and maybe due to her being so young and it being her first litter, it may of affected litter size.

Photo taken by Peter Hedger

She is a very good mother, and tucks her baby away in the grass to hide it when she goes off to feed herself. I have been through the enclosure looking to see if she had twins, and didn't even see the one she has had!

She does however check on her several times a day, and is comfortable enough to feed her in front of the public and cameras... she even stole the limelight of keeper Izzy's otter talk Sunday afternoon by deciding to feed her then, and directly opposite the talk : )

Roe deer are quite different from other types of deer. They are a solitary breed, and rut at the end of the Summer, earlier than Reds and Fallow, but due to a delayed implantation still won't give birth till the following Spring. Casting their antlers before Winter, they have to grow their new set while there is not much food around.

You can see from the above pictures, when they are born they have a light dappling across their flanks. This is to help them camouflage away in the long grass.

If you ever do see a young abandoned roe fawn on your travels, please DO NOT disturb it or pick it up... It is probably fine, and its mother is just away feeding or watching you and waiting for you to go so she can return to it. If you do disturb it or touch it, the mother may well then abandon it as it will have a human scent on it which she does not recognise.

Thanks to Peter Hedger, regular photographer and friend to the Centre, for these photos. Check out his flickr stream for more images of our animals.