zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
A quick update of part of August and this is the final part of Nisha,Thylo and myself staying down in the South West of England area.Now our journey to our first zoo took us through Cheddar Gorge was fabulous to see early in the morning before all the hoards arrived to spoil the views,which made what was already a special day for me just that little bit more special!
Exmoor Zoo 1/8/2016,Two visits in a year not sure I have ever done this place twice in a year,but I cannot complain about that as far as I was concerned the visits over the last few days had all about helping Thylo see collections and the country,so to the review since my first visit the old Blue-tailed Monitor had passed away,from what we latter found out having a chat with the owner a matter of weeks after my first visit.It was one of those visits in which everything was seen pretty much straight away,apart from the Potto(which I still haven't seen ever here) and the Asian Golden Cat which we did get a view of latter on.Now while viewing some of the many Amazon Parrots at the place we got talking with the owner,about the breeding they had with them this year,along with many topics like EAZA,Palawan Leopard Cat and the possibility of big cats being living wild in the UK,the first and last I will say no more on as it was a very candid chat,and just in case anything could cause a problem for the owner I will say no more.On the Leopard Cat despite it still being labelled it had in fact left the collection a matter of days after my first visit,but it is planned to bring the said animal back after the enclosures for it and the Rusty-spotted Cats that also lived in the complex have been rebuilt.Now we did have a little food break for some of the fabulous home made cakes they do in the cafe,Thylo couldn't decide which to have so ended up with 2,both of which he enjoyed greatly,which I was a little releaved about as I had recommend both.
Now I did take a little detour between the 2 places to call in another place that I am more than a little passionate about,that being the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway at Woody Bay,I will not bore people about this place as I could,but I will say if you are in the area stop by and give them some support!!This did mean we followed the coast road into Tropiquaria which all passed us across the top of the Exmoor National Park,where we managed to see some of the famous ponys and a Raven.
Tropiquaria 1/8/2016,I don't know what it is about this place but I seem to keep visiting this place on the this date,oh well fingers crossed for 2017 then.Cannot report much from this place since my first visit.But I can say that we did manage to lose Thylo down in the basement Aquarium,for a good period of time as he was enjoying seeing alot of very odd small fish,which was fine as I was having a good catch up with the owner who I have known many years,due to us both being members of the Bartlett Society.During this chat I was asked what was the one area of the collection that let them down the most,to which I replied the bird aviarys near the Tapir.To which the owner replied good thats our next project to rebuild,and in fact I believe it has now been started so I look forward to seeing it when it is completed.
Bristol Zoo 2/8/2016,Yes we did arrive for opening at 9 and for once I parked in the zoo car park as it was cheaper than parking else where with it being a week day,given that we arrived more than a little early we took a gentle stroll round the outside of the zoo pointing out bits of it to thylo while we walked round.I think its safe to say we went round in the manner that I always go round in,and yes Thylo was impressed with the Nocturnal House and the species,in fact as far as I remember he was impressed full stop with the place.The only thing that we wanted to see but didn't was the European Sousilks and if you don't see them on a nice sunny day,first time you pass you have no chance.
Now my journey to Noahs used to take about 35 minutes from bristol Zoo,but thanks to my new sat nav I have found a new route,which only takes about 15 minutes.It does however cost £1 to use the route as you have to cross the Clifton Suspension Bridge,what can I say but what a view from it and what a piece of engineering!!
Noahs Ark Zoo Farm 2/8/2016,yes I know back again to this place,but Thylo wanted to see this much criticised place,and I did have a little bit of an event going on which might prove interesting,in the form of Peter Blake doing a venomous snake demonstration for this week only,and seeing as I knew some of the species he could be bring with him we called in.Now as a result of Peter been there I did add another 6 to my challenge total,that I wouldn't have seen otherwise this year in a zoo.I will not say too much about the demo given,but I will say that as far as I am concerned its an accident waiting to happen!! The biggest laugh I had was the fact that thylo had traveled all the way to the UK and he got a life tick for a mammal that is native to the USA in the form of a Beach Mouse!
Slimbridge WWT 2/8/2016,Now part of the reason for visiting her was to try and see the Common cranes that have been re-introduced in the area,to say none of us could believe our luck when about 5 miles out from Slimbridge one flew over the car would be putting it mildly.Having arrived we got straight on with looking round and started with the very nice Amphibian collection in the main building,fron ther we preceded to see the captive stuff as thylo was a man on a mission to see all the flamingos,happy to say we very quickly managed to see every species of Flamingo.Because we arrived a little bit late we did get chased out a bit,but we managed to get round and see everything still on the captive side.I would have liked to have shown Thylo some of the wild reserve but there is always another time!
I will now take a break so I can go and partake in the festive activity's!
Exmoor Zoo 1/8/2016,Two visits in a year not sure I have ever done this place twice in a year,but I cannot complain about that as far as I was concerned the visits over the last few days had all about helping Thylo see collections and the country,so to the review since my first visit the old Blue-tailed Monitor had passed away,from what we latter found out having a chat with the owner a matter of weeks after my first visit.It was one of those visits in which everything was seen pretty much straight away,apart from the Potto(which I still haven't seen ever here) and the Asian Golden Cat which we did get a view of latter on.Now while viewing some of the many Amazon Parrots at the place we got talking with the owner,about the breeding they had with them this year,along with many topics like EAZA,Palawan Leopard Cat and the possibility of big cats being living wild in the UK,the first and last I will say no more on as it was a very candid chat,and just in case anything could cause a problem for the owner I will say no more.On the Leopard Cat despite it still being labelled it had in fact left the collection a matter of days after my first visit,but it is planned to bring the said animal back after the enclosures for it and the Rusty-spotted Cats that also lived in the complex have been rebuilt.Now we did have a little food break for some of the fabulous home made cakes they do in the cafe,Thylo couldn't decide which to have so ended up with 2,both of which he enjoyed greatly,which I was a little releaved about as I had recommend both.
Now I did take a little detour between the 2 places to call in another place that I am more than a little passionate about,that being the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway at Woody Bay,I will not bore people about this place as I could,but I will say if you are in the area stop by and give them some support!!This did mean we followed the coast road into Tropiquaria which all passed us across the top of the Exmoor National Park,where we managed to see some of the famous ponys and a Raven.
Tropiquaria 1/8/2016,I don't know what it is about this place but I seem to keep visiting this place on the this date,oh well fingers crossed for 2017 then.Cannot report much from this place since my first visit.But I can say that we did manage to lose Thylo down in the basement Aquarium,for a good period of time as he was enjoying seeing alot of very odd small fish,which was fine as I was having a good catch up with the owner who I have known many years,due to us both being members of the Bartlett Society.During this chat I was asked what was the one area of the collection that let them down the most,to which I replied the bird aviarys near the Tapir.To which the owner replied good thats our next project to rebuild,and in fact I believe it has now been started so I look forward to seeing it when it is completed.
Bristol Zoo 2/8/2016,Yes we did arrive for opening at 9 and for once I parked in the zoo car park as it was cheaper than parking else where with it being a week day,given that we arrived more than a little early we took a gentle stroll round the outside of the zoo pointing out bits of it to thylo while we walked round.I think its safe to say we went round in the manner that I always go round in,and yes Thylo was impressed with the Nocturnal House and the species,in fact as far as I remember he was impressed full stop with the place.The only thing that we wanted to see but didn't was the European Sousilks and if you don't see them on a nice sunny day,first time you pass you have no chance.
Now my journey to Noahs used to take about 35 minutes from bristol Zoo,but thanks to my new sat nav I have found a new route,which only takes about 15 minutes.It does however cost £1 to use the route as you have to cross the Clifton Suspension Bridge,what can I say but what a view from it and what a piece of engineering!!
Noahs Ark Zoo Farm 2/8/2016,yes I know back again to this place,but Thylo wanted to see this much criticised place,and I did have a little bit of an event going on which might prove interesting,in the form of Peter Blake doing a venomous snake demonstration for this week only,and seeing as I knew some of the species he could be bring with him we called in.Now as a result of Peter been there I did add another 6 to my challenge total,that I wouldn't have seen otherwise this year in a zoo.I will not say too much about the demo given,but I will say that as far as I am concerned its an accident waiting to happen!! The biggest laugh I had was the fact that thylo had traveled all the way to the UK and he got a life tick for a mammal that is native to the USA in the form of a Beach Mouse!
Slimbridge WWT 2/8/2016,Now part of the reason for visiting her was to try and see the Common cranes that have been re-introduced in the area,to say none of us could believe our luck when about 5 miles out from Slimbridge one flew over the car would be putting it mildly.Having arrived we got straight on with looking round and started with the very nice Amphibian collection in the main building,fron ther we preceded to see the captive stuff as thylo was a man on a mission to see all the flamingos,happy to say we very quickly managed to see every species of Flamingo.Because we arrived a little bit late we did get chased out a bit,but we managed to get round and see everything still on the captive side.I would have liked to have shown Thylo some of the wild reserve but there is always another time!
I will now take a break so I can go and partake in the festive activity's!