Tuesday 14 April 2009

Wildlife Weekend




Hello, I hope that you have all had a good Easter weekend!

On Good Friday we took Phoebe to Secret World in East Hunspill, Highbridge, Somerset. It is a rescue centre for wild animals. It is not open to the public on a daily basis, only on special open weekends such as this one. This weekend was a Bonanza badger weekend.



We saw baby badgers, a baby fox, lamas, peacocks, rabbits, chickens, hedgehogs, owls and other birds of prey. The aim is to bring them back to good health and release them back to the wild. Although some may never be returned to the wild and are cared for by the staff at Secret World. They also made everyone aware of the main dangers for these wild animals, Man sadly. Their website goes in to more detail.

Baby fox


Baby badger (There were a lot of arrrhhh sounds from the crowd when the baby fox and baby badger appeared for a short spell)


There were a lot of peacocks there too.

It is a great place for children to see some of the wild animals close up and to get a better understanding of them. They also have an adoption scheme in place which is a great gift for children and helps look after some of the animals in need.


On Sunday we visited another animal Sanctuary called Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard, Somerset. It is very close to the Devon & Dorset border. The grounds are lovely and spacious, very green with rolling hills around. The weather was perfect, beautiful blue sky.
Here they take in different kinds of animals.




We saw several of cats, tortoises, donkeys, horses, pigs, dogs, the largest breed of cows in Britain (Friesian Steer) , goats, chickens, chipmunks, geese and other animals


Phoebe and Alan looking at one of the Friesian Steer cows
Phoebe looks tiny next to the picture representing the scale & size of a Fresian Steer.
Being a cat lover, I really wanted to bring these 3 little cuties back home with us! But sadly couldn't :-( as we already have two at home...

Phoebe & I in search of more cats.


This friendly elderly cat enjoyed a bit of fuss and attention.


We ended our day with a drive down to Charmouth beach (Dorset). We were there for a couple of hours looking for crabs in rock pools and fossils.

Plenty of fresh air and exercise to walk off those chocolate Easter eggs...

A bientôt!

Isabelle x

34 comments:

Yvonne said...

What a beautiful long post Isabelle !
you made lovely photo's of these little animals.
I hope they will survive in wild nature...
In Summer, i have also 3 hedgehogs in my garden :-)
Have a nice week !
Greets Yvonne

Stephenie said...

What a beautiful post...Love the picture of the peacock..That tail is just amazing..Those hedge hogs are so cute too...Those cats look so cute in the bed..I would've wanted to bring them home too...My hubby always tells me I should own a zoo(hehe)... I love animals...
STephenie

Beth Niquette said...

What wonderful pictures! I especially loved the porcupine (was it?) in the towel, as well as all those other lovely animal photos.

Gorgeous beautful, amazing!

Beth Niquette said...

Oh, yeah...I forgot to mention, your picture of the peacock's tail is magical!

This Vintage Life... said...

It looks like you all had a lovely time...and nice weather too; it's been foggy here all weekend!
Deb x

Mandy said...

Oh my goodness I love the hedgehog. This post is wonderful thank you for sharing x

OhSoVintage said...

What a lovely day out and so good of all those animals to pose for the camera. I'm not surprised there were 'aaaarghs' at Mr Badger. We went down to Cornwall for Easter (I think we drive through or near Charmouth).
Ruth x

Unknown said...

Hi Isabelle
Thankyou so much for looking at my blog and for everything you said...the paintings are a very new style for me so it's lovely getting some positive feedback...and yes they are for sale: the 2 top ones are approx 25x25cms and are going to be £135 and the one underneath is only 10x10cms and is £45...I've been doing others so may put them on my blog too...I have to have about 15 ready for the Brighton Artists Open Houses during the May Festival, so I'll be painting for another 2 weeks...can't paint anything for months and then it all spills out and I can't stop.
I absolutely love that picture of that badger by the way...it is So sweet.
I'm alongside 2 siamese cats and a fat tabby at the moment...and the 2 collies next door are proving bliss for my 8yr old son; they drop sticks at his feet!
I have to work out how to 'follow' blogs now...or maybe I've done it already...
Anyway,thanks again for your comments
x 5ft inf

bex said...

ohh, lovely, sounds like you had a great easter weekend! how cute is the baby badger!! i want one to come and visit are garden!!
x

Tiedupmemories said...

Beautiful photographs!I didn't need to go to the zoo and I brought my kids to see too! Too cute!Thanks for sharing!
Tracy

Carole said...

Isabelle...
What a wonderful day you and your family had.
A real learning experience at the rescue center too. Isn't it great that places like that exist. We should all do what we can to support them. I just read in a magazine of a place in the U.S. that take in abused animals. Makes me cry just thinking of it. Thank you for taking us on your adventures and getting a glimps at your beautiful countryside. It's such a treat.
Also... WOW you now have 63 followers!!!Congratulations you should be proud of yourself.
Hugs,
Carole

Sonia said...

Oh, the hedgehog looks sooo cute. Reminds me, one time we found two hedgehogs in the school yard during lunch break. Kids that we were, we fed them ice cream...=)
You look like you had a faboulous day. Who wouln't?! Meeting all those interesting creatures.
*Hugs*
Sonia

Cowboys and Custard Mercantile said...

Hello Isabelle ..What a lovely way to spend the weekend..
I know I would surely have lost my heart to the baby badger, fox and kittens....but it would be hard explaining to our cat why he has new brothers and sisters.
I love the colours in your first photo of the hens. It looks like a vintage tinted photo.
Michèle x

Pink Feather Paradise said...

Sounds like a fantstic weekend, I have to admit that out of all the places you mentioned I have only been to Charmouth... I must make more of an effort to visit more local attractions...

beautiful pictures too!

X Alex

Shabby Chick said...

Yay for Charmouth! I think we went on holiday there about four times when I was a child, I love it :)

I really liked all your animal pictures, the badger is adorable! I would love a kitten but unfortunately my other half is allergic and there's no other animals I think I could put up with!!

Mel xxx

Marie-Nostalgi och Romantik said...

Oooh, such cute little animals! I want to hug them all, but some of them aren´t quite as nice to hug...
Hugs!! from
Marie

julie said...

ah, sounds like a great couple of days out, such sweet little animals and both places sounds like they do very worthy works

Julia said...

Hello Isabelle

Im so glad you had a lovely weekend, the photographs of the little animals just melt your soul dont they? Just like you I would have wanted to be taking them home!

Its lovely to be back, catching up with your blog again - sadly we didnt make the Saw Doctors :( we couldnt get another babysitter at such short notice - just one of those things, very disappointed but hopefully catch them again if they come back some day.

With love, have a sparkly week
Julia xxx

Bleudelavande said...

Hi Isabelle what a wonderful day you had! Very beautiful post tank for sharing all these little animals I love them! Have a nice day

Pixiedust said...

What a lovely weekend. That's the sort of thing me and hubby like to do. I'm such a big softie though, I bet I'd get upset. The baby badger and fox are adorable. xxx

Sal said...

Gorgeous pictures!
Thank you for sharing!
I'm glad you had such a wonderful weekend!
;-)

The Vintage Kitten said...

Lovely post! Aww the animals are all so lovely, particularly the baby fox. Where I live I occasionally see the odd badger late at night, and deer are a rare treat (too quick to take photographs unfortunately). I would have wanted to take the pussycats home too, but I dont think my four would like it!

~Vintage Nina~ said...

Hi! What a wonderful weekend you and your family had! How nice!!! I wanted you to know I left you an award n my blog!I wanted to share your wonderful blog with my friends! Please stop by when you can. I hope you are doing well!
HAPPY DAY!!!
~Nina

Clare said...

What a lovely weekend you've had. The baby fox and badger look so cute...I'd have wanted to bring the cats home too!!

50sgal said...

What fun and I love frizzle chickens.

Reflections from the Stone Nest said...

Oh, what a fun day! Love the baby badger and the peacock is gorgeous! Can't wait until we can go to the beach! Looks like your daughter had a great time....

Have a wonderful day
Kitty

Laura @ 52 FLEA said...

Love that baby badger! Looks like you had a perfect Easter weekend!
Be well, Laura

Diminutive Discoveries said...

Great pictures! It looks like you had a nice weekend. I love the picture of the peacock- a friend of my family raised peacocks- which always seemed odd to me (we live in Michigan)- I always thought they would need a different climate.

Les Cotrions said...

Hello Isabelle! I'm happy to hear you had a nice Easter time!What a fantastic trip you had! Phoebe must be very happy! It's so nice when children are happy and entusiasthic!!!
Have a sunny day!
Warm hugs
Vale

Niki Fretwell said...

Hi Isabelle,
These look like two great places to visit, particularly with children...its lovely to see them bonding with animals, isn't it? When my girls were younger, we always said we were off 'pig-patting' when we were about to visit an open farm.
Your photos of the baby animals are adorable - glad that you had such a lovely Eastertime,
Niki x

Tarnished Royalty said...

I never knew hedgehogs and badgers could be so cute! Looks like a perfectly enjoyable way to spend the weekend.

Monica said...

Oh Isabelle, I just love the hedgehog!!
What a beautiful day!
Monicax.

Anna said...

it's the first time I visit you and them I see something so beautiful, I love badgers and hedgehogs..so cute!!!
great pictures too.
gr. Anna

Beth Niquette said...

Egad. I just realized you're married to an "Alan" too. (grin) My husband says that is the RIGHT way to spell his name. Heehee