February Update

I was only talking to one of our maintenance men the other day saying "In the 14 years I have been here, this is the first Winter that the otter ponds haven't fully frozen over!"... and then what happens, the Beast from the East arrives!

So the question on many peoples minds... Do we have snow here?.. Well, yes and no...

On a couple of mornings we have had a shallow covering, of which most has melted in the sun by midday. As I have often said in the past, we seem to be in a little dip here that avoids a lot of this weather, and only a few miles away there has been quite a bit of snow fall making it tricky for keepers to get in.

Yesterday saw a few heavy snow flurries during the day, and you can see Elwood not fazed at all by the snow... not so much can be said for the cubs, who really didn't like the ice on the ponds. But as you can see also from the picture of Elwood, not much snow stayed on the ground meaning very green enclosures still.

I mentioned the otter ponds icing over above, and as always the otters seem to love running on top and diving through from both above and below. It is still just as cold here, and we are forecast more heavy snow flurries tomorrow and Friday... so, if it lays, there could be some good snow around at the weekend for you to see, if you can get here of course.

Our otter cubs have been growing fast, and are not far of the size of mum already. Here they are at the beginning of the month helping each other in and out of the water.

You may remember that one of them was out of their holt early, and had to be rescued and taken back to his home. He is very friendly, well they both are, but this little one in particular seems to remember the helping hand he had when young and is not fazed at all.

They are learning quickly, and look up to Elwood who plays a large role in their upbringing... a very modern father otter. We have been really original with their names this year. Harry (otter) and Beatrix (otter).

And yes, I know I said we had hardly any snow, but I thought start with a snow pic end with a snow pic. This is one from seveal years a go of Toby our badger. Earlier this month he was filmed as part of a TV programme that will be aired later this Spring. Not much more can be said now, but we will let you know nearer the time when you can seem him be our next star of the small screen.

Susie the Stoat

Half term has been and gone, and despite the up and down weather we were busy... very busy, including a record breaking day for a non bank holiday in terms of visitors through the door! Did everyone come after seeing our owner on a couple of recent TV cameos?, was it the gourmet triple cooked chips that had the people flocking to our doors?, or was it the 2 for 1 vouchers we had in a few local publications?.. We will never know, but what we do know is what ever the reason they came for... they stayed for the animals.

The stars of the show at the moment are no doubt our two young otter cubs, who now venture out with mum and dad for most of the talks, but another of our residents was causing quite a stir... Susie our stoat, currently in ermine. 

Along with the mountain hare and ptarmigan, stoats are one of three animals in Britain that can turn white in the winter. This happens during the winter, when there is more likely to be a snow covering, and the stoats coat changes to beautiful white for camouflage except for the tip of their tail which remains black.

This winter coat of a stoat is called "Ermine", and was often used to to adorn the ceremonial robes of nobility. Here's a fun fact for you... in 1937, 50,000 stoat pelts were imported in from Canada for the coronation of George the VI... hmm, actually that's not really a 'fun' fact is it...

Stoats moult twice a year, and in their second moult at the end of the year can moult in to ermine. Not all stoats do turn ermine though, and you tend to find it is mainly in the north of England and Scotland where they do... I guess this makes sense, as it is more likely in these areas that we get a snow covering in winter.

In the south they usually moult in to a brown coat. You even get some stoats that just moult a few white patches... or moult white with a few brown patches... again, it seems the higher up in England you go the more white patches as a general rule of thumb.

All this leads to the temperature, and/or photoperiod of the day, being a key factor in this moult. But genes must have something to do with it too... the stoat must be genetically prone to moult ermine, and I think this due to the stoats we have had at the Centre over the years.

Of all the stoats we have had here over the years, only two have ever turned ermine. Susie being the only one at the moment. But we do have others here, and despite being in the same temperatures and photoperiod as Susie, they moulted in to their usual brown coats.

But... Susie doesn't always go ermine in the winter. Last year was the first year she did, and had a few brown patches still down her back and over her face. This year she is nearly completely white as you can see from these pictures, but before that she has always moulted brown.

Either way, she is a beautiful stoat in her brown coat or her little white number, and a special stoat to me. She is still in ermine at the moment, but it will only be a few weeks until she starts to moult in to her summer coat and go back to brown.

Photo of the Month: January 2018

"Red Squirrel" by Barry Doolan

A bit later in the month than usual, but here is our first photo of the month for 2018! In the past the winter months seem to have been a bit slower than usual for sharing of photographs, but this year that all changed. Lot's of images popping up, maybe thanks to the new social media prescence the Centre has.

For January we have chosen this cheeky little portrait above of one of our red squirrels, taken by Barry Doolan. Barry's photo will be the first in our gallery for 2019, and be in with a chance of winning a photographic day here at the Centre if chosen at the end of the year out of the 12 monthly images by our professional photographer judge.

If you would like to see more of Barry's photos, click on the link in his name above, and look below for a a few more photos that caught our eyes over the last month.

"Female and Young Otters" by Robert North

"Scottish Wildcat" by Richard Knight

"Tip toe across the fence" by Brett Watson

"Red Fox" by Adrian Coleman