Right time for November didn't do much but still managed to get to a few places, Chester Zoo 6/11/2016,Just a normal monthly visit to Chester and a chance to see how the building work was going on Islands and else where within the zoo,have to say it is going well and looks to be moving on well.Had a very nice Honeycomb Ice Ream. Wild Animal Adventure 26/11/2016,A strange place part pet shop part zoo,but they still had some very nice species in the form of Greater Egyptian Jerboa and Pardine Genet.Now I had heard mixed reports about this place,but on the whole the place isn't to bad but some of its enclosures are far to small but they do seem to be working on changing this in the future. Windmill Animal Farm 27/11/2016,This place is mostly domestics but they do now have a Raccoon and every other weekend they have some reptiles,as it happened by pure luck this was such a weekend!That said the highlight for me was seeing my first ever Swiss Black-nosed Sheep a very nice species indeed and a very nice looking domestic addition.They have a very nice little cafe but we didn't stop as we wanted to push on to Martin Mere.A final note about this place is that it is also home to a 15 inch gauge miniature railway,which does have a zoo connection in the form that it has the loco and stock from West Midlands Safari park,and if you know what you are looking for stock from the railway that used to be at Dudley Zoo! Martin Mere WWT 27/11/2016,The new Woodlands swamp exhibit was open,have to say it looks a lot smaller than what I thought it was going to be,but it is a very nice addition to the site.The addition of a nice group of Ring-necked Duck and a pair of Giant Canada Goose just add to the feel of the exhibit.They have a very nice cafe here the food is excellent if not a touch expensive,but given the view from the cafe you can forgive them that! Added another 4 over this month to push my total to 270 for the herp challenge,now I wouldn't add many more than that in December but was still more than happy to have reached that total.
I saw some of these, labelled as Valais Blacknose, at the Devon County Show last year and they were the highlight of my visit there. When a pair were being judged in the show ring, the commentator said they were regarded as the cutest looking sheep breed on the circuit.
They look like the Giant Pandas of the sheep world. Move over Ouessants and any other breeds currently in vogue in Children's farm parks/zoos- I can see these taking over in the future.
I suspect the cost of them will stop them turning up every where,given that a low grade one costs over 2.5 thousand,so they aren't cheep to buy!
If they can get them multiplying successfully, eventually the rarity value will drop and so will the price- after a while. But zoos won't be getting them at that price!
Valais Blacknose lambs, May 2016 | ZooChat A photo of two hand-reared Valais Blacknose lambs at the Devon County Show.
Right think its about time I concluded the year with December,not much happened till after the 26th,but here goes any way. Chester Zoo 17/12/2016,This wasn't a planned visit on my part but Ophidia was kind enough to swing by on his way to the zoo to pick me up,on his way to a meeting he had at the zoo.Just as well he did as I would not have been sober enough to drive myself,staff Christmas drinks are not a good idea,the night before if you want to visit a zoo!!Very pleasant pre-Christmas round the zoo,thanks to Ophidia meeting we got a tip off about,a possible few new herps that we might be able to pick up on the 24th! Chester Zoo 24/12/2016,Very much on a mission on this visit,to hunt down the herps that the zoo had put on-show without any labels,happy to say we did indeed find them 2 in Monsoon and 1 in the Tropical Realm,so as a result my total now stood at 275 if somebody had said I would hit this number at the start of the year I would have been more than happy. Lake District Wildlife Park 27/12/2016,The final different collection that I hadn't visited yet this year,which took my total to a not too bad 66 for the year.What can be said about this place well its in a superb setting and the Brazilian Tapir have a nice enclosure with a stream running through it.Species of note are Black Wildebeest,Guanaco and Hadada Ibis.They have a very nice little cafe that on this visit we didn't make use of. After visiting LDWP we had a quick trip to Penrith to pick up TLD and his far better looking other half! South lakes Wild Animal park 27/12/2016,only went because it was free entry after my visit early in the year'I really didn't ant to visit again,but the free entry and the fact they had a new guidebook on sale,just tipped it to make a quick visit.I didn't think the place could go down hill any more than my other visit this year,but I have to say I was surprised by just how well they had managed to achieve that. Personally speaking the sooner the council put this place out of its misery and remove its zoo licence the better,as I believe the place is giving the zoo world a bad name!! The Lakes Aquarium 27/12/2016,Second visit of the year to this place,they had at long last put something in the exhibit they built over 18 months ago above the Lungfish tank,have to say it wasn't worth the wait but still it is one of the bigger African Giant Land Snail exhibits.The fudge on sale in the shop is very nice,but the Death by Chocolate isn't as I am still here!! Lakeland Wildlife Park 27/12/2016,Always a joy to visit this place it does small and unique in its own style.The new invert exhibits look very nice a vast improvement on what they replaced,that I saw at the start of the year.Also the new Fossa exhibit that they are building looks like being something to go back for when its finished. Crocodiles of the World 28/12/2016,Always fun watching somebody trying to work out which the hybrid is in the Nile Croc exhibit!Since my last visit with Thylo they had altered the Caiman Lizard exhibit to give the a pool big enough to swim in,and it looks nice and works well given that they have them mixed with plumed Basilisks,and a Komodo dragon had replace the Malayan Water Monitor in the outside Monitor exhibit,for those that like to edit zootierlist don't the Malayan Water Monitor is still there just off show. The only other thing to report was the roof in the main building had a few leaks in it,but sure the boss will have sorted it by now! Cotswold Wildlife Park 28/12/2016,Managed to visit the and see the mammal exhibits in the old zebra stalls,a very nice job they have done as well but then would say that as I have a soft spot for Gundi. The only down side was the attitude of a very senior member of the staff,managed to talk down to us after we had asked a question at the entrance,but thank fully the rest of the staff are great. Living Coasts 29/12/2016,A chance to visit and see the Eiders in breeding plumage,if you haven't been and seen their King Eider male in breeding plumage I suggest you take the chance and do it soon,as they are down to just the 1 male.My sat nav still thinks I park in the sea. Paignton Zoo 29/12/2016,Well we did this place to try and see the Quince Monitor,but it had been replaced by a Mangrove Monitor,but I still managed to get a new herp in the form of Uroplatus fimbriatus that could be seen in the reptile Nursery,also noticed that the Herp collection is slowly changing I suspect many more to come over the next few years! So here ends the zoo visiting for the year as for my Challenge total well thanks to the one at Paignton and a split that I found out about in August my total stood at 277.
