Day 17!!!

Day 17!!!

HELLO EVERYBODY!!!

Howzit! Boy oh boy, I am serleeeeeeeeeepy! Yip yip yip! It isn’t as hot as last week, but for some reason I am feeling a little knakered. I am going to have myself a particularly spicy dinner in hope that it will give me a kick up the backside!

You will be pleased to know that Erika is very much enjoying her new toys. When I went by to see her tonight, she was staring in the mirror talking to herself so I take this as a good sign. There were also signs of her snack treats having been nibbled at so that was also very pleasing. We have a new game that we like to play, its basically her just trying to bite the tip of my finger off as I move it from one side of the cage to another and she just runs backwards and forwards. I get the impression that after a while she finds it slightly frustrating so I have started to let her think she has won by poking a twig through the cage and letting her have it…it seems only fair. Otherwise im just puffing out the poor chick for nothing.

So…what have I been up to since my last blog…Well, yesterday was Tuesday and we finally got to meet Kevin properly. It was really interesting, he took us around the farm and was full of info and stories about the lions. I have do many pictures of him rolling around with the Lions. They really do love him and he really does love them, it was wonderful to see. What was nice was that he didn’t rush around, he spent a lot of time with us, explaining about the animals and their characters, but what was really interesting was hearing him speak about the work they are doing on the farm and what they are trying to achieve. Kevin and his wife Mandy clearly have a huge passion for the work they are doing along with Rodney, Quentin and all of the staff at the Kingdom. It made me very proud to be helping out, even if in just a small way. I look forward to sharing some of the pictures with you, when you see the way Kevin and the animals look at each other you will know what I am jabbering on about.

After lunch we fed the animals, it was a lots of chicks yesterday which meant that cleaning the enclosures today was really mucky. Lots of egg yoke everywhere. YUK! But again, its always nice feeding the lions as they come right up to you and make the sweetest noises, its funny hearing a massive predator sound like a desperate kitten. The hyenas are another story however, as soon as they see the food they start to laugh and it is the best noise you will ever hear! Its like the food comes out of the van and they fall into hysterics just at he sight of it. Brilliant! AND did you know that hyenas will scoff their food down really quickly and later regurgitate it and eat it properly??? Well they do, its because there is a very definite hierarchy within packs of hyenas, and the most dominant will often steal food from the others and because she is in charge they have to let her/him have it. At the Kingdom Sammi is dominant and she is a right cow. Vince unfortunately is at the bottom and is missing an ear and his tail and is covered in cuts and bruises poor thing, and he has to be fed by Rodney otherwise Sammi will just eat all of his food. When Vince is eating he is a nervous wreck, constantly looking behind his shoulder after every bite just in case another Hyena is coming to give him a beating. SO the fact that he can scoff it down and then eat it properly later means that he at least has a good chance of getting a good meal. Bless him, and shame on you Sammi…still, tis nature I spose.

Spent last night getting to know the new volunteers at the cottage. They are great! I love them. Arthur is so sweet, he has round glasses and reminds me a bit of a tall Timmy Mallet. He is from Holland but speaks very good English, hehe, every sentence he speaks sounds like a question which is very cute because he just sounds excited all the time! Haha. Peter his friend doesn’t speak English (apparently) which is weird because he seems to understand every word that I say! If I crack a joke to someone else I notice him snigger, or if I make a point about something within a conversation, I notice a slight nod of the head in concurrence…and if I say something really smart he smiles as if to say, well done!…OK so the latter isn’t quite true! Haha, but I am sure he understands what I am saying. Earlier I asked him if he wanted a muffin and he said no straight away…sure, when I come to think of it I was holding a muffin and shoving it in his face…but still!

Arthur on the other hand speaks, English, Spanish, French and Italian as well as dutch. So I asked him if he was secretly a spy and he laughed this off…rather nervously if you ask me so I think I may be on to something there….


Oooooooo…Bug in my hair!

We now also have Evelyn who is Arthur’s Niece, Bonnie who is also  Dutch but doesn’t know the others from Holland and Camille from France. Camille is great because she bursts into song related to something that you have just said…and this doesn’t happen once or twice a day, this happends literally every time you say something…for example, today I was talking to Amy (shes a lion) and she was led on her back in the sun looking at me lazily, and I was telling her that she looked beautiful, and Camille walked past with a bucket full of bones and started singing ‘YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL, NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY…’ and later we were sweeping the houses and someone said something about the heat being crazy and the next thing I knew…‘YOU DRIVE ME CRAZY AND IT FEELS ALRIGHT…’ This morning when we were walking to the farm someone pointed out that the moon was still in the sky and it was ’WHEN…THE…MOON HIT’S THE SKY LIKE A BIG PIZZA PIE ITS AMORE!’  and so on and so forward, you get my point. Shes great! SO much fun. AND it gives me an excuse to sing all the time! WooooHOoooo!

I’m now sat outside, just had my spicy dinner which was nice. My mouth is on fire! OH YEAH hot diggedy. I feel quite content, had some lovely cuddles with the cubs today. Im in love with Dhubba the Hyena, he is just so adorable with his floppy ear. But, having said that they are all lush.

There is a rat and a mouse under the table at the moment. Interesting, good thing ive had a shower or they might have mistaken me for something to nibble on. Also there is a bird nest on one of the trees in front of the cottage which I particularly low, low enough to look in and I was lucky enough to take some pics of the 3 chicks inside of it. We are not sure what kind of birds they are at the moment. Will have to do some spying to see what goes in there. ALSO a baby bat fell onto the kitchen floor just now, its so small, I don’t know where it fell from, but its on a tree outside now so we are monitoring it closely in hope that it will fly away to safety!

All in all we are taking good care of each other and the animals! Its all very lovely! J