new beginnings

If you have been to the shop recently, you would have noticed a lot of changes in the  new animal zone. Not everything goes to plan, we were offered an 8 month old Crested Porcupine, he had been hand reared and was a magnificent animal. He was an animal that could pose a threat if he wanted to, he seemed gentle natured and very calm. Unfortunetly he did not settle in too well, he was pacing a lot and seemed only interested in food. We gave the chap a good couple of weeks to settle down but he did not. He looked unhappy and this was just not fair. Luckily the breeder of the animal understood and was able to take him back. I do feel bad that he had to go but having an unhappy animal is not what we want. All the other animals have settled in really well.

So we had an enclosure free, i went to collect a silver fox cub for myself who you may see round the shop from time to time. While i was collecting her i was shown some more animals , i fell in love with a particular pair of animals called Raccoon  dogs. A beautiful animal of the Canid (dog) family native to the far east. They were and still are farmed for fur and last year a sick and disgusting film from Japan was released showing live animals being skinned. We have a young pair, the male is extremely friendly and will explore every pocket searching frantically for food. The female a little older is gentle  and calm and is getting used to us. I have built an array of shelves in the enclosure and all are being used. They are currently moulting out from their winter coats and you will probably see them scratching furiously to get rid of excess hair.

Also new is a small aviary with a flock of java sparrows, a flock of birds is alwaays exciting to watch. The relationships within the group can cause great conflict. You will see mutual preening , fighting and courting which all goes towards the pecking order. Java sparrows are a small bird from the east where huge flocks can destroy crops. In the USA they are also causing a stir as escaped birds are reaking havoc on crops in the southern states.

One last addition to the collective is 'Chico'. He is a Burrowing owl, found across central America, they use fence posts to scan their territories. Burrowing is used loosely with these owls as most of their homes are generally made my other animals such as Gopher tortoises. I have used large bore pvc piping for his burrow which you may see him running in and out of. I hope to find him a female as soon as possible.

Some more good news on the Kookaburra front the hen (female) was in and out of the nest box today so fingers crossed for this season.