Sweet Dreams, Beautiful Sophie

It is with the greatest of sadness that we have to tell you that Sophie the Raccoon has fallen peacefully asleep and left us. We knew she was much older than Fiona when we took her in (we suspect she may have been her mother), but she hid exactly how old she was quite well, and after a short battle with several age-related conditions, and trying every treatment we possibly could (thank you to our exotics vets who pulled out all the stops for her); it was simply her time. No more pain, no sickness, no fear. Only love. And love her we always will.

We are so sad that we didn’t get longer with this beautiful brave girl. Sophie came to us just over a year ago, after spending her life until then in a cage on a puppy farm that has, thankfully, now been shut down! She was very timid when she first came here, but slowly started to come out of her shell and trusted us. We were over the moon when we completed their brand new enclosure (thanks to your support) and so was she... exploring every corner, splashing in her pool, climbing, playing, sunbathing, and snuggling up with Fiona in her warm bed. We wish she could have had this new life for longer, but we’re so happy that she got this time with us and put her past well and truly behind her.

While Fiona loves to play rough, she was nothing but gentle with her in her final days, clearly knowing she just needed peace and comfort. Raccoons are social animals so when the time is right we hope to offer a happy home to others in need of a forever home, joining Fiona so that she doesn’t become lonely. For now she’s getting lots of extra cuddles and fuss from us and is doing well. Animals will never cease to amaze us with their strength!

Not a day will go by that we won’t think of our darling Sophie and we hope that you will remember her fondly too. As long as they live on in our hearts, they never truly leave us.

Sweet dreams Sophie xxx

International Keeper Day

Today is International Zoo Keeper Day. Although we’re not a zoo, because of the amount and types of animals that we have, we have to hold a Zoo Licence and are subject to all of the same legislation, rigorous inspections and high standards that are expected of zoos. Animal Keeper is a short job title, when in fact you are also a...

• CLEANER - Keeping animal shelters and paddocks clean and tidy... Guess what? Animals poo a LOT! We clean windows, sweep paths, empty bins, clean kitchens, equipment, etc.

• CHEF - Preparing and feeding a wide range of diets for all sorts of animals with varying needs. Our mornings and afternoons are spent chopping, grating, mixing, measuring, and eventually feeding. We’re the greengrocers, the chefs, the waiters and the pot washers!

• NURSE - Many of our animals have special needs and need daily medications and treatments. We don’t clock out at 5:30 when an animal is poorly and have even stayed with them overnight when we’ve been caring for them. We assist the vets, administer injections, carry out daily health checks, take and sometimes even analyse samples, bandage wounds, and hardest of all; we are there for them right up to the very end in some sad cases. A part of our job many forget about but something we can never forget.

• RECORD KEEPER - We are responsible for keeping the notes needed to be put in to all of the animals’ individual records (every single animal here has their own record!). What have they eaten? How are they behaving? Symptoms of sickness, medicines being used, etc.

• INTERIOR DESIGNER - We are in charge of making sure the animal enclosures are fit for the needs of the animals. From putting up new perches for a bird, to working with the maintenance guys to draw up the plans for new ones!

• TRAINER - We train some of our animals, volunteers, students who are hoping to do our job in the future, and even visitors! We are also learning all of the time ourselves and are undertaking courses from MSc Veterinary Physiotherapy, to Zoo Management, Food Hygiene (because we believe that animals should have safe, hygienic diets too!), First Aid, Leadership, and even regular training days with our vets.

...and SO much more! We are proud of our team and what we all achieve together, and thank YOU for making it all possible for us!

Back to the Classroom...

It was back to the classroom for our animal Keepers this week, as they attended a training session with farm vets Rhys and Gina from Meadows Farm. This time we were learning how to carry out Worm Egg Counts to better monitor the health of our farm animals.

Preventative health is very important when caring for all animals, and this allows us to routinely screen for parasites rather than constantly treating them and risking resilience to medications in the future.

When an animal is showing signs of sickness, this is often one of the first places that we will look, as parasites are one of the most common causes of symptoms such as weight loss and poor condition. We can then treat the cause, or if ruled out can look further to get to the bottom of what is actually causing the problem with our vets’ help.

Being able to carry out simple tests like this will also save us money that can then be put towards other important veterinary treatments – emergency treatment for our larger animals can quickly run into their hundreds (and in a past case, thousands), so it is very important that we have these funds available.

We are always learning and very happy to be gaining new skills to better care for our animals. We have wonderful vets who are always happy to help us with this, and we have learned a lot from them over the years. This is just the first of several upcoming training sessions that we are looking forward to!