Wet again

Well what a time we've had over the last week at the otter park. As any of you will know that have visited Cornwall this Summer we have had our share of rain and more! Last week in particular was very bad for the park. It all started on Wednesday morning, we had had a lot of rain the previous night and were slightly apprehensive as to what the park might be like the next day. However, upon arrival it didn't seem too bad and initial thoughts were that we may have to open half an hour later just to make sure everything was okay. However between 10am-11am things got worse, with the rain coming down in torrents and all the water that had been cleared originally started building up again extremely quickly. With the water level building up the park and the staff were finding it hard to control and pretty soon the bridges started flooding, the stream had broken its banks, the footpath was flooded and a rip current began in front of Tino and Tamarisks' pen quickly expanding from 4 foot wide to 20 foot wide. Water was starting to take over the place at an alarming rate. The cubs pen is about 4 feet higher than the stream and even that started flooding. This was quite worrying, as the water started rising and only a small amount of land was visible in their pen, however they were all very sensible and stayed inside, apart from Biggy who thought it was all good fun! This was just the start of our problems however, as the rip current that had started at Tino and Tamarisks' pen had become so fierce that it took down two sections of the fence surrounding their pen which was soon under 2 feet of water. Fortunately Tino and Tamarisk slept right through it so there were no attempted escapes. Finally the whole site was completely flooded, the water on the footpath became waist deep and the waterfowl lake, marsh lake and the main river outside the park all became one, so that it was impossible to tell them apart.. The end result was that the park couldn't open and all of the staff from the tearoom, shop and outside spent the rest of the day in waders trying to repair all of the damage that had been done and stop any more from occurring. All in all it was a very disheartening day and definitely not something you expect to happen in the middle of the summer.

Although that Wednesday was particularly bad and repairs were still being carried out for the rest of the week, as more damage had been found to the fences, it hasn't all been bad news and the animals are all doing well.

Nigel's looking much more like his usual self with both antlers pretty much fully grown and all of his velvet is starting to dry up. This means he will soon be rubbing his antlers up against the trees as they will be starting to itch and irritate him. Then once he's got rid of all of that velvet he will have two proper antlers and can start strutting his stuff for all the does. He has been putting his current antlers to use though, as he is the main suspect in repeated damages to equipment, such as various dents and holes, this makes us wonder how long our animal feed bins for the public will last, once he realises he can have a continuous supply of food by keep knocking them onto the floor.

The fallow deer fawns are also doing well. They have been looked after brilliantly by their mums and the rest of the herd and it appears they have been learning from them all, as they are now starting to build in confidence and are getting closer to members of the public, no doubt realising that those deer that are slightly braver (including Hansel our young buck) get extra helpings of food each time they get close to the public as they will gladly eat out of peoples hands. I wonder how long it will take the young fawns to follow in their greedy elders footsteps?

Whilst the weather hasn't been brilliant we have managed to let three of the ducklings out into the rest of the park, that had previously hatched from the incubator. They are finding their way round and are doing well. However it seems that they are missing their companions inside, as we still have seven ducklings indoors and they tried to sneak back in to see them whilst they were being cleaned out.

Our young joeys seem to be getting bigger now and with it much bolder. You are more likely to see them munching away on some leaves a few feet away from their mums now rather than just the odd little head poking out of a pouch. However they don't stray too far away from their mums, as they are still looking for protection and can jump straight back in the pouch when it feels necessary. It seems one pair of wallabies - a mum and her Joey have been on the move and have migrated from the woodland area to the marsh lake and just outside the tea room, where they have been able to enjoy a tasty banana skin or two. As well as the joeys becoming more active and bolder, the other wallabies seem to be getting more active as well. It looks as though its mating time again, which means there is more chance of seeing these animals close to as they are less worried about people and only interested in each other, so we have seen some fantastic mating displays and chases.

The two barn owls that we let go appear to be doing well. Whilst we haven't seen them we have found signs that they are coming back. They have been eating some of the food that we have been leaving out for them and whilst this could mean they aren't getting food themselves they are also leaving behind some nice big pellets which have been changing in colour. This indicates that they are managing to hunt for themselves and are just coming back for a top up and also shows that they are staying in the area, which is quite nice to know.

We also have some fresh faces in the park - three peachicks, two guinea fowl chicks and thirteen cockatiels. Two of the peachicks are being kept indoors with the two guinea fowl chicks as the guinea fowl left her nest and the eggs were hatched in the incubator and in the past the peahens don't seem to do too well looking after their chicks. However we have left one of the peachicks with its mum as she spent all that time hiding her nest and sitting on her eggs, we thought she should be able to see the end result and be given the chance to rear one of the chicks herself. Thirteen cockatiels - some people might say unlucky for some but these birds seem to be doing very well and enjoying the park. We had an empty aviary and the offer to temporarily house these birds, so thought it would make a change for the visitors and the cockatiels and the cockatiels certainly seem to be enjoying themselves.

Onto the otters now and it seems we could be expecting some fresh faces there later on this year as Raymond and Zephyr, from the family’s pen, have been seen mating again this week, which must be the second or third time this month. Unfortunately Tino has had a fat eye due to some overenthusiastic play with Tamarisk last week, but it doesn't seem to be bothering him and they are continuing to play just as exuberantly.

The cubs are still adoringly cute and Cinnamon is starting to get very cuddly. She has been climbing onto John and Mandy’s lap every time they go into the pen and seems to be enjoying being tickled. Whilst she seems to be enjoying this and has started realising that she has been missing out on all of the cuddles that Biggy and Smalley have had for so long now it is rather worrying for the keepers, as she is getting quite big and has very sharp teeth with a strong grip! Leap is also gaining in confidence but not to the point that she is yet having cuddles and tickles, but she is coming out more often when the other cubs are out and enjoys playing with them all. Whilst Cinnamon and Leap are growing quickly and Biggy is still quite a bit larger than Smalley who still seems to be boss of the group and gets away with pretty much everything. Biggy, however remains the most vocal and attention seeking otter we've ever known but still manages to be very cute!


Here’s hoping for some drier weather, Sonia.