Somerset? More like Brumerset!

[FBBird]

By seasonal, I mean in terms of visitor numbers... It looked as though they were doing some work on the pond as it's the off season currently; better to get things done when visitor numbers are lower.

Thinking about it, I wouldn't want birds having access to a steep sided pond full of turtles......

 

[sooty mangabey]

Excellent review - I'm glad you enjoyed North Devon, despite the horrible weather. A few notes...

Thee are two invert' tanks and two reptile tanks set into one wall with the highlight being prehensile tailed-skinks. Other than a rhinoceros iguana in the main zoo and some poison dart frogs by the entrance that's it for herp's.

I think there are more reptile displays than this in the entrance area: four or five. And don't forget the display of Dwarf Caiman too. In addition, there's also a house and paddock for Spurred Tortoises (Centrochelys sulcata) elsewhere, and some other quite nice species in the education area: Blue-striped Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis similis) and California Red-sided Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis infernalis) are pretty unusual.

Along with these two species here's a list of other carnivores here; meerkats, African civets, singing dogs, maned wolves, hunting dogs, grey wolves, caracal, cheetah, sand cat, serval, puma, margay, rusty-spotted cat, fishing cat, lynx (signed as Eurasian to subspecies Carpathanian), bat-eared fox, leopard, along with the species mentioned earlier and possibly others as well.

There are also Dwarf Mongooses - the last exhibit in the Tropical House. And, more excitingly, a pair of Tayra as well.

Prevost's squirrels were housed in the same style

These are no longer in the collection; the last animals died over the winter. I don't think they will be replaced.

A long valley that's well planted and stretches down a long way to a natural water source, absolutely beautiful.

I'd agree with this praise for the Sitatunga paddock. It is lovely. Also v good are the Bush Dog exhibit - open-topped, pretty large, pretty varied. And the Porcupines do very well, too: nothing startling, but just a nice, good-sized thing with good viewing.

If you can get to Exmoor then I suggest you do so, a very enjoyable zoo for the enthusiast, and some of the species are enough to make any serious species hunter salivate. Definitely recommended.

I'd totally agree. Given the nature of the place, and the collection, it's definitely worth spending the whole day there, and returning to various enclosures at different time. I hear a new guidebook will be published quite soon, too, which is good news...

 

[Brum]

I think there are more reptile displays than this in the entrance area: four or five.

I didn't pay too much attention to the entrance display as I thought it was just poison dart frogs, I should have had a closer look. I'm ashamed to say that we skipped the education room as it looked deserted and closed.

And don't forget the display of Dwarf Caiman too

There are also Dwarf Mongooses - the last exhibit in the Tropical House.

Both mentioned in my review...

And, more excitingly, a pair of Tayra as well.

Yeah, the tayra were extremely active as they usually are. It says something of the quality of the collection that I forgot about something as interesting as tayra!

These are no longer in the collection; the last animals died over the winter. I don't think they will be replaced.

Glad to hear they won't be replaced, they had a fair bit of usable space but unfortunately most of it was in wire tunnels.

 

[twilighter]

Putting aside the most fascinating resident - the Spotted Fanaloka, Exmoor looks like quite interesting place, with very unusual carnivore collection.

 

[zoogiraffe]

You do realise that the outside enclosure for the lemurs, used to be home to a group of bobak marmots and just past the otters used to be zorilla.

 

[Brum]

You do realise that the outside enclosure for the lemurs, used to be home to a group of bobak marmots and just past the otters used to be zorilla.

That's just depressing... And the otter enclosure is now a bush dog enclosure, I think. Interestingly enough I didn't see a single otter, sloth or anteater yesterday, highly unusual to miss all three on a multi-zoo trip.

 

[Brum]

Conclusion & Odds 'n' Sods

Whilst at Combe Martin we were due to meet up with a keeper for a chat about the leopards but unfortunately it didn't happen and we had to make a dash for Exmoor. Fortunately when we were at Exmoor TNT got a phone call saying they were free, having explained we'd already left we made tentative plans to stop off on the way back, time permitting. Fortunately my good run of luck at Exmoor meant we could nip back on the way to the train station without me missing anything I'd aimed for.
Got there, met with the keepers (both of whom were very pleasant, welcoming and knowledgeable), we managed to get a closer look at new developments and got to admire the current enclosure and leopards from a bit nearer as well. A pretty fantastic end to a marvellous mini tour.

If I were to choose which zoo to revisit then I'd clearly go for Exmoor, it is a zoo for the enthusiast and is comparable to Hamerton or the late, lamented RSCC with their collection of smaller mammal rarities. Both zoos are worthy of a visit but for a ZooChatter there is only one clear choice, for the average family then either would suffice but Exmoor would probably be easier on the legs.

Some random bits and pieces :-

Flooding in the South West of England is terrible, at one point just past Gloucester I looked out of my train window to see miles and miles of water. We also encountered mild flooding on the roads, where TNT (very wisely) scoped out the depth of a fifty yard flooded section by watching another car drive through it first.

Weather was a mix of abysmal, mild, and quite pleasant. In the thirteen hours I was out of my house I experienced gale force winds, torrential rain, hail, sleet, snow, drizzle, pleasant sunshine, and at one point blue skies above me! Didn't detract from the day though.

@ThomasNotTom had hyped up the Exmoor Zoo burgers to the max whikst we had been driving, we were both quite looking forward to one by lunchtime... We ended up with a sausage roll each instead as they were not doing fried food that day. I've since heard Exmoor's food is really good, and quite reasonably priced. It's always a good sign when the lowlight of your day is missing out on a burger and not a fanaloka...

We finished the day with a drive through Burnham-On-Sea where I learnt that they clearly have the smallest pier in England (citation needed) as it doesn't actually reach the sea unless the tide is in, and is also possibly accompanied by a tidal wave! But I did have an obligatory selfie by the sea as even I like to do touristy stuff every now and again! (Apparently they also have an animal park in B-o-S with skunks, lemurs and raccoons according to their leaflet and website, but someone didn't think it was zoo-y enough to tell me about )

All in all, a great day with great company and some brilliant species. And yep, Exmoor's now done and dusted with nearly all lifers seen. Damn you binturongs, damn you all to hell!

 

[TNT]

Apparently they also have an animal park in B-o-S with skunks, lemurs and raccoons according to their leaflet and website, but someone didn't think it was zoo-y enough to tell me about

Now hang on a moment It was always just a farm park with some Raccoons, I wasn't even aware of the lemurs!! Also, its not in Burnham

EDIT - I can't see any Lemurs on the website??

 

[Brum]

EDIT - I can't see any Lemurs on the website??

If you go through all the pages trying to glean information then at some point a picture of a ring-tailed lemur pops up. Don't ask me where, I can't remember.

Edit - Can't find the lemurs, maybe I'm getting confused with somewhere else. I'm blaming exhaustion. I'd have still counted it as a zoo but for nearly ten quid I'm glad we skipped it.

 

[FunkyGibbon]

I'm confused on one point, did you actually see the Prevost's squirrels or just their enclosure?

 

[Brum]

I'm confused on one point, did you actually see the Prevost's squirrels or just their enclosure?

Just the enclosures, but they had substantial off-show areas and were still signed.

 

[TNT]

If you go through all the pages trying to glean information then at some point a picture of a ring-tailed lemur pops up. Don't ask me where, I can't remember.

Edit - Can't find the lemurs, maybe I'm getting confused with somewhere else. I'm blaming exhaustion. I'd have still counted it as a zoo but for nearly ten quid I'm glad we skipped it.

You may be thinking of Puxton Park? I know they were getting/have a zoo licence... and
that's in the area? Not sure what they have though

 

[Brum]

You may be thinking of Puxton Park?

Just looked on the Puxton Park website, no lemurs but short-tailed opossums and unspecified tenrecs on-show. Maybe worth a visit when you're in the area?

 

[TNT]

Just looked on the Puxton Park website, no lemurs but short-tailed opossums and unspecified tenrecs on-show. Maybe worth a visit when you're in the area?

Oh nice, the opossums are a shout... I might give them a ring and see if they'll let me pop in! Thanks

 

[Brum]

Oh nice, the opossums are a shout...

Unspecified tenrecs as well, so they might be tail-less if you're lucky!

 

[TNT]

Unspecified tenrecs as well, so they might be tail-less if you're lucky!

I highly doubt they'll be anything interesting Shame I didn't know, I drove past the other weekend when visiting the North Somerset Bird of Prey Centre.

 

[Brum]

I highly doubt they'll be anything interesting

You say that, but tail-less are pretty common in private hands!

 

[Ned]

I noticed that they had opossum, do they still have their ill informed policy of only allowing entry to adults accompanied by children? It is no longer mentioned on their website.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

I noticed that they had opossum, do they still have their ill informed policy of only allowing entry to adults accompanied by children? It is no longer mentioned on their website.

I believe so.

 

[Ned]

Thanks, would it be weird if I offered a random child a bag of sweets to accompany me to a farm park?