Farmyard

Today I worked in the farmyard. It was the second time I had worked this section and I must admit I did enjoy it a bit more than last time.

They have new residents since I worked there in my second week and I started the day by cleaning their enclosure and giving them food and water.

The lamb who arrived with her mother the first time I worked on farmyard has grown big but is still very cute. Below is a picture of her when she first arrived.

After cleaning out the chicks, I cleaned the small enclosures (chinchillas, mice and rat) and was then sent over to 'Bunny Town' to clean out and feed the rabbits. I didn't get bitten this time, the one that bit me was locked in as she has just had babies - Perhaps that explains why she was so grumpy when I tried to take her bedding last time!

The star of the show this week was almost certainly one of the pigs. Unfortunately I don't know her name so I was just calling her 'Pig' but she started off by 'helping' Hazel and I clean her enclosure by checking through all the nice piles we had just swept, helping sweep by eating the broom and of course helping pick up the piles of dirt by shredding the black plastic bags we were trying to put them in to.

She was a sweetheart though and seemed to follow us around. If we were inside she moved to her inside enclosure and came outside as soon as we went out to sweep (I think she was missing her fellow piggy friend who was being kept inside today).Anyway, these are a couple of pictures of her shamelessly after fuss, food and attention!

I'm really very worn out now and I know that I will sleep well tonight but it was definitely worth every moment!

Sunday 21st March 2010 - Trial Day

On 21st March, I arrived bleary eyed at the Park at 8am for my trial day. After a brief meeting with Kayleigh about safety issues and a quick tour she assigned me to spend the day working on the bird section of the park.

As she left me with Claire, one of the bird keepers she assured me that I wouldn't be left alone and that I'd have someone with me the whole time. 10 minutes later, Claire had to leave - The horn billed toucan had hurt his foot and she had to take him to see the vet.

Things were very hectic on my first day - Claire still refers to it as the Sunday from hell, but despite this I did really enjoy myself. I cleaned out some of the small aviaries and gave the birds some food and was rewarded by having the sun conures land on my back. Here's a photo of the two cheeky chaps from the safety of the other side of the bars. ;-)

The most of the rest of the day was spent preparing the food for later, with Stephen one of the other volunteers and doing some general cleaning around the site.

I did however get to watch part of the bird show which was running that day and listened to them talk about the different birds they had there. At the end of the show, the public get the opportunity to hold a barn owl and take photos and I was delighted to be able to as well. I got the extra pleasure of being able to stroke her as well (which the public aren't allowed to do). Her feathers were so soft! Did you know you should only stroke then with the back of your hand? I think it's something to do with the waterproofing of their feathers.

Overall, it was a great day and I was definitely looking forward to going back the next week!

Sunday 18th April - Day off

I didn't work at the zoo last weekend.

Neal and I went up to Manchester to watch the cricket instead (Lancs won so it was all good). I did miss working just a little bit though...

I thought perhaps I will attempt to put some posts up outlining events of the four days I've already worked at the park. Hopefully with a couple of photos too. Though I really need to remember my camera this weekend and take a whole lot more.

Paradise Wildlife Park - An introduction

So, I've worked at Paradise Wildlife Park as a volunteer for the last 4 weekends now and I thought it would be nice to start a blog so that you can follow what I get up to, any recent animal bites and hopefully I'll be able to share a few photos of the animals at the park.

Paradise Wildlife Park is a small zoo in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire which has been open for quite a number of years. It's changed  an awful lot since I went there as a child! They have a large variety of animals there, but have a particular large collection of big cats including white lions and white tigers.

They pride themselves on the number of different interactive experiences you can do at the park, such as shadowing a keeper for the day or feeding the big cats.

As a volunteer I work on Sundays between 8am to 4pm at the zoo and help out the zoo keepers on various sections within the park. So far I have worked on the bird section, the farmyard and most recently the paddocks.