The Golden Pheasant was seen on Thursday afternoon on the wrong side of the fence down by the river, by Friday morning he was at the main entrance gate waiting to be let back in! He is in fine shape so obviously fancied a change of scenery for a few days; we were all really pleased to have him safely back with us.
We are pleased to report that the fox has not made a return visit to date and there are no signs of him having been in again.
Now for the cubs update, the two females on site are looking healthy and active and have been seen outside wandering around the pen under strict supervision from the rest of their family. The family are taking in food when we feed them so they are being weaned which will take some of the pressure off mum. Zephr is looking in good condition so we are pleased with the way things are progressing at the moment.
The boys meanwhile are also doing really well, putting on weight, eating well and becoming much more active and agile. Last Friday they decided they did not like the white fish we were giving them, they sniffed it, put in their mouths and then spat it back out again. They ate the raw mince with relish, we decided to try a piece of rainbow trout which they wolfed down so they were just being fussy! Obviously we cannot have them being this fussy when the long term plan is for them to return to the park where their diet will include a variety of fish and chicks. John sat up with them for a hour and a half that evening and offered them nothing but their milk and the white fish. They eventually gave in and now have a mixture of the mince and fish and eat all the mince and about three quarters of the fish!
They have also learnt to swim this week, they started out being a little timid in the water but they have three swims a day and with each one they became more confident. They now swim around with their heads under the water, play around together and seem to really enjoy themselves. This is really good news as we have heard of otters that have been hand reared being afraid of the water initially.
All the staff have been involved in feeding the cubs during the day, it is good for them to share the experience and for the cubs to get used to seeing different people.
At the park the maintenance is ongoing and the weeks flying by so quickly that we will never get everything done that we hoped to do during the winter months.
That's all for now, almost time for another feed and swim for the cubs!
Otter Keepers' Wife.
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