January Update

 

And so it continues... Shortly after our decision at the end of last month to remain closed for January, the Government announced a third lockdown with a review to be taken mid February. It now sounds like restrictions may not be lifted until early March, and what that means for us and places like us we don't know, but as soon as we are allowed to and as soon as we feel it is safe to, we will open our doors once again!

In the mean time, life goes on here, animals still need to be fed and looked after. It is not as bad as the first lockdown when it was just myself and one other keeper each day. With the new furlough system it allows all keepers to work part time to still feel involved, and gives me an extra help to keep it all going in these dismal and dark winter days. 

So what's been happening over the last month? We are working with minimal staff just to keep the animal welfare to the high standard we expect. So all non essential jobs are on hold and of course we have no visitors, but there are still some things we have had to do to prepare for this coming year and a few extra seasonal jobs that crop up over winter. 

Our deer generally feed themselves naturally for most of the year. We do offer them food, but they prefer the natural grasses and leaves that their paddocks allow. However over the winter they almost exclusively rely on us for food. This means extra work in preparing and providing extra food every day, and more time needed to clean out their large shed and hard standing which they use more frequently during the winter. 

Braveheart, one of our breeding male wildcats, has been introduced to Hilda once again to hopefully mate over the coming weeks. Fingers crossed we will have more wildcat kittens later this year. In the meantime our kittens from last year are now all off display and while we wait to here from the studbook as to where they will go.

Otto, the otter, has also been moved off display. He is now approaching the age where there is a risk that he may mate with his sister if they continue to live together. Both of them have settled quickly and seem to be really enjoying their enclosures to themselves. 

Early each year we usually set up our displays of harvest mice and water voles with new little families from our breeding groups off display. You may remember we decided to try setting up our water voles a little earlier, putting a new group out at the end of last year. They are doing very well, and as with the first lockdown, no one here to see them unfortunately. This month we have prepared the harvest mice enclosures ready for new groups before we can hopefully open our doors once again. 

Some of you may have seen a slightly different nest box in with a couple of our pine martens over the end of last year... These were a new style we were trying out, and it seems are preferred by our pine martens. Therefore, with the little extra time we have had, we have been able to build and provide all of our pine martens with this newer style. 

So lots going on here still as you can see. All this and the extra winter jobs such as clearing the otter sleuces and more regular checks on nesting  boxes to make sure the animals have warm and dry beds. 

Hopefully next month's update we will be able to provide you with a bit more exciting news such as when we can welcome you back here again. 

December Update

 

Deja vu!.. Last months update was the second in a row where we tried to welcome you back to the Centre, and then days later are unable to due to new restrictions put in place. We spent one day in tier 3, before going in to tier 4 and having to close our doors again. Then a few days later on Christmas Eve, despite still being in tier 4, we were told we were able to open again to the public. Crazy times, but we will get through it. Despite this the Centre has decided to remain closed for January, here is our official statement from our website...

Following the Government’s 19th December announcement, the region is now in Tier 4. Sadly, we have had to close the British Wildlife Centre with effect from Sunday 20th December. All those that had pre-booked tickets have been provided with complimentary tickets for a future visit.

Though the Government have recently made an allowance for some outdoor attractions, we feel that the high rise in Covid cases presents too much of a risk. Therefore, we have made the decision to remain closed in order to safeguard our visitors, staff and the wider community.

Of course we are still here looking after the animals and getting jobs done. Over the past month we finally found the time to sex and microchip our wildcat kittens so that they could be added to the studbook and breeding programme for Scottish Wildcats. Would you believe it... all females! 

Normally each Spring we add a new young family of water voles to our display island. Last year they were great, but no one saw them as we were in lockdown. When we eventually came out they turned quite shy very quick. In anticipation of our winter opening we decided to put a new young group out a little earlier, but alas we are now closed again. They have been doing well, and hopefully will be active when we welcome visitors back to the Centre.

Our red squirrels always look great this time of year with their winter coats with thick fur, bushy tails and striking ear tufts. We experimented a little with the way we do our keeper talk over the summer with a feeding log in the middle of the Copse. It allowed far more people to get a good view with out crowding, and they still come close to visitors outside of the talk when running along the hand rails. With this in mind we are making it a permanent change, and so have changed the small log to a more substantial feeding platform. 

The most recent job before Christmas was to repair and reconnect the pine marten run system where it had been taken down to allow the two oldest pens to be re built. Now all back up and running, we will be able to use them next year to hopefully introduce our martens together for the breeding season. 

As mentioned above in our official statement, we will be remaining closed for January, but hope to be able to welcome you back soon after. Until then stay safe.

November Update

Well, my October update was short lived... not long after posting it, and inviting pre booked visits and our new Winter photographic days, we get plunged in to a second lockdown for four weeks! Hey ho, it's all about the red squirrels though, and our red squirrels are doing great :-)

Usually the "quieter" Winter months when we have a few less bookings than usual are when we utilise that extra time to get on top of some of the jobs that would be trickier to do when we are busy, or have more people visiting. These tend to be the jobs such as trimming back the trees, any major repairs and just generally freshening up the enclosures. 

Second lockdown has meant reduced staff for us to keep funds down and ensure we are still here at the end of it, but unlike the first lockdown when it was just myself and one other each day... the shorter days and extra tasks this time around allowed us to keep all keeping staff on board, albeit on reduced hours. Boy have we been busy!

Lots of tidying has been done all around the Centre, but it is the main enclosures that will be noticed the most. Branches and trees cleared from the otters, to carry on with rush removal of earlier in the Autumn. More recently we finished a bit of a change with the pine martens, including new branches and bark chip for them to explore. 

Just today we made a start on our wildcats hopefully to be finished, or at least nearly there, by our weekend opening. Still much more to do before the year end and over the first month or so of next year, but we usually manage it before the days begin to pack out February onward with groups and tours. 

On the animal front, the biggest news is perhaps our Roe buck casting his antlers. Unlike our other native deer, the red deer, who cast theirs in the Spring. Roe deer cast and regrow theirs over the Winter months. We have also had a late litter of water vole pups. All fit and healthy, but not the best time of year for a release. We will keep them over winter until better weather, and more pups are about, for a better chance of a more successful release next year. 

Let's try again shall we!.. Coming out of lockdown this week, we will be open to the public again from the weekend. Pre-booked online only, so take a look on our website to see how to do that. Tours and groups scheduled will still be taking place, and any that had to be cancelled I am sure the office have already... or will be shortly... contacting you about re booking. 

Take care and stay safe everyone.