Greetings once again BISC Blog Readers! Are you enjoying the hot weather? It’s good rock ‘n roll weather! It was my first visit to Noah’s Ark Farm Zoo, and I was quite impressed. Though on this trip fewer students went on the visit, as the mode of transport was by mini bus and two cars, the day went well.
Once I arrived there I went to the café and had a cup of coffee on the veranda where you could survey the zoo. In the distance I could see a giraffe, a water buffalo and three camels. We watched a wonderful Animal Show -a display of animals that ranged from small rodents and reptiles, to a barn owl, a donkey, a sheep and a goat followed finally by a shire horse. The barn owl was much smaller than Oscar, but what detailed markings on his feathers. Barn owls used to be common in England but are now regarded by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) as being rare.
Inside the show pens you could see at close hand the animals, including Ernie the eagle owl. Later I saw the Harris Hawk – a native of North America – and Ernie the eagle owl flying and catching their prey from one of the Zoo’s keepers. I got very close to Ernie, closer that I had been to Oscar. The markings on the feathers were outstanding – such beauty. However these marking have a purpose –camouflage. When Oscar was around at BISC just after Christmas, he was perched on a ledge of the Biological Sciences tower. He blended in almost completely with the stonework of the tower, and it took some minutes to see him. In their native habitat which is in Northern Europe and pan Russia, the camouflage is also extremely effective. Looking at Ernie and touching his feathers was quite a privilege as we could never have got that near to Oscar.
The Saturday was a very hot one; perhaps the hottest day of the year up to that time, the BISC blogger was wearing a hat as he has very little hair on top. Nevertheless the arms (and legs), of many of us looked red by Monday. Walking round the Zoo I was impressed by all of the animals from the gibbons who looked a bit like BISC blogger to the Camels. When I walked past the water buffalo he was sheltering in a shed, and I don’t blame him! It was far too hot to be in the field. I remember seeing water buffalo in South East Asia, and was always impressed how hard they worked in the paddy fields. The animals that carry things for man are known as beasts of burden. This would include the shire horses, donkeys, camels as well as the water buffalo. All have provided an excellent service to mankind for generations, and mankind for most of the time have taken their contribution to the welfare of mankind for granted. Did you notice that the donkeys had markings the shape of the cross on their backs? Camels and donkeys feature in the Bible and Jesus when entering Jerusalem sat riding on a donkey. Donkeys featured at his birth in a manger too.
I hope that you enjoyed Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm as much as I did, and that you didn’t get too much sun. For me it was nice to sit down and have an ice cream or three, and consume a couple of cans of lemonade. I was also very close to Ann when she exposed her knees! It nearly put me off my second ice cream. Regards until next time blog readers, keep rock and rolling and catch up with you soon. Have a good week BISC blog readers and remember slip slop slap!
This is your BISC Blog writer signing off, tune in again for the next Blog the River Cruise-there are plenty of spaces left. Why don’t you invite your friends along too?
