The cart has returned! 11th July 2014

This afternoon the Senior Assistant Keeper invited me to guess what was in this storage area. "Is it something exciting?" I asked. "Yes", came the reply, but I had no idea it was as exciting as this as I thought the cart had been discarded having fallen apart a couple of years ago. Apparently the estate gardeners had salvaged and repaired it and have been borrowing it......now it has come home.

You guys need some new animals or exhibits to peak your interest, if something like this cart is what excites you!

Its the minutae of local Zoo visiting, where admittedly not too much exciting often happens, but ParrotsAndrew has nevertheless created a small cult following (well a few of us anyway) of enthusiasts with his beautifully captioned and detailed photos painstakingly recording all the facets of everyday life; the animals, their care and management, the buildings, fencing, the weather, etc and in fact everything else too, at several such small collections in his area.

I hereby award him one Pertinax Gold Star for his perseverence!

Arizona Docent said:

You guys need some new animals or exhibits to peak your interest, if something like this cart is what excites you!

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But this IS very exciting!! The cart is a much loved part of the zoo's history - oh that happy day during my time as the worst zoo keeper in the UK when I set off in the snow to shovel the muck into the skip (then a couple of hundred yards from the zoo) only to find the gates out of the Pleasure Gardens locked. I had to trek through the trees and go the long way around. When I got through the gate into where the skip was kept the zoo kitchen bucket and assorted rubbish on top of the cart fell off into the snow. The whole operation took an hour instead of the usual 15 minutes or so. Happy memories shared with the cart of my dreams . The long-serving zoo staff have even more affection for it.

Pertinax said:

Its the minutae of local Zoo visiting, where admittedly not too much exciting often happens, but ParrotsAndrew has nevertheless created a small cult following (well a few of us anyway) of enthusiasts with his beautifully captioned and detailed photos painstakingly recording all the facets of everyday life; the animals, their care and management, the buildings, fencing, the weather, etc and in fact everything else too, at several such small collections in his area.

I hereby award him one Pertinax Gold Star for his perseverence!

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Thank-you Pertinax. A Gold Star!! I dedicate it to the cart without which I could not have done it! Is there an awards ceremony where I can make a lengthy and tearful speech?

Parrotsandrew said:

Thank-you Pertinax. A Gold Star!! I dedicate it to the cart without which I could not have done it! Is there an awards ceremony where I can make a lengthy and tearful speech?

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No Award ceremony but treasure it... they don't come along too often. Mind you, you really deserved one for that nightime shot of the Sika Deer too- ever thought of entering it in a competition?

Pertinax said:

No Award ceremony but treasure it... they don't come along too often. Mind you, you really deserved one for that nightime shot of the Sika Deer too- ever thought of entering it in a competition?

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Thank-you, pity they cannot be awarded retrospectively! No, I have not thought of entering it anywhere - it was just a stroke of luck that it was all right .

Parrotsandrew said:

Thank-you, pity they cannot be awarded retrospectively!

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Sorry but that's just the way it is. Unless of course you had some photos of the Orangutan 'Adam' at Flamingo Park....

Pertinax said:

Sorry but that's just the way it is. Unless of course you had some photos of the Orangutan 'Adam' at Flamingo Park....

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I am not married to the lovely Debbie McGee .