Keeper For A Day Experience
Date of experience - 16th January 2022- New Experience Number 1.
I was really looking forward to my keeper for a day experience. I love animals, but would I love all of the things a wildlife park keeper has to do?
Going Wild On The Outskirts Of York - Keeper For A Day Experience
With 100 species of mammals, birds, and reptiles, I was looking forward to meeting them all at Askham Bryan Wildlife Park.
Feeding, weighing and yes, even some cleaning, were all part of my duties when I experienced a fantastic day in the life of a keeper.
‘Keeping’ me out of trouble
Making sure both me and the animals were safe, I have to say a huge thank you to Anya who was my absolutely brilliant guide. She took good care of everything. Providing me with plenty of hands-on opportunities, taking me behind the scenes, introducing me to the animals and answering all of my many, many, random questions. I couldn’t help it, I was eager to learn!.
What a 'weigh' to start the day
We began in the warmth of the reptile room, which was much appreciated on a chilly January morning. First, some routine weight checks, starting off with the python.
I’m not afraid of snakes, but there was a bit of trepidation about holding it. Sometimes having an incorrect reputation for being slimy, the bright yellow scales felt smooth as I ran my hand down his body.
He was fairly relaxed and not too slithery but when he did move, I could feel the powerful muscles it uses to constrict its prey. I was happy to hand him back when he got a little bit too wriggly for my liking!
The Uromastyx lizard demonstrated its toilet habits as soon as we put it on the scales. Turns out there’s quite a lot that comes out of such a small creature.
Squat and flat with a spiny tail, its skin seemed papery thin to touch. It seemed very relaxed when I held it. I could relax too, knowing it had already had an evacuation in the tray.
Checks done, weights recorded, and happy that the creatures were healthy, we moved on. Not all of the animals needed any intervention, but Anya took me through parts of the park that as a general member of the public I wouldn’t normally get to see.
Meeting Awesome Amphibians - Keeper For A Day Experience
The almost translucent bodied little alien appeared to be smiling at me through the water. I loved the axolotl, with its wide splaying feet, decorative fronds around its head and a very friendly face. Sadly I forgot to take a picture!
The poison dart frogs sounded threatening, but were in fact no longer poisonous due to the diet they are fed. That must be a relief to the keepers who look after them.
Getting my face up close up to what appeared to just be a tank of wet green mossy rocks, I eventually spotted the Mossy Frogs from Vietnam. Their appearance is exactly as their name suggests. An incredible way to hide in plain sight from predators!
A huge thick rope draped across the room and into a tank. There were hundreds if not thousands of leaf cutter ants marching along carrying pieces of leaf over twice their size. Absolutely fascinating to watch.
Arma-dealing with the armadillo
Not all of the animals at the park have names, but the armadillo were known as Shrek and Donkey.
Scurrying, scuffling and snuffling across the sawdust they seemed very eager to see us. Then I remembered I had a dish of vegetables and meal worms in my hand. They scurried around their enclosure, across the small rocks and between our legs much faster than I had anticipated.
I’d always assumed their armoured protection was smooth, yet fine hairs covered their shell. These armadillo were mostly subterranean so this was a very useful modification to help with burrowing and finding food.
I learnt that not all species of armadillo are able to roll into a ball, and even if they could, I doubt we’d have seen Shrek or Donkey rolling up as they were too busy tucking into their lunch. They were very gentle as they took food from my hand. The pinky orange skin of their body under the shell was very soft to touch, protected from the elements by their hard casing.
Mucking About With The Sugar Gliders - Keeper For A Day Experience
Whilst I didn’t have to clean up huge piles of poo, I did have to muck in with some mucking out of the very sweet sugar gliders.
Little pink noses and wide inquisitive eyes peeped out of the wooden box in the cage. These palm sized creatures looked very cute, but they were messy eaters. Before we could give them their next meal, I had to wipe away the debris and chip off the dried scraps of their previous one.
Sometimes referred to as flying squirrels, Sugar Gliders are marsupials and more closely related to kangaroos.
A feeding station now clean enough to eat dinner off, I topped them up with natural yoghurt, chopped fruit and raw vegetables.
I’m pretty sure they would never have experienced yoghurt in in their native habitat in Australia, but they do have a sweet palette and their tiny tongues lapped it up.
As their name suggests, they can glide through the air. Unfortunately none of them demonstrated the amazing way they can extend their arms and legs to create what looks like a wing suit, but they were friendly, cute and enjoyed the food we gave them.
A meal for meerkats
The crowd pleasing meerkats are always fun with their inquiring faces, they way they stand on their back legs and sniff the air keeping an eye out for danger, and the way they interact in a pack. They scurried round me as I entered the pen. Tiny cute paws tried to grapple the food straight out of the bowl.
In the wild they can have a dangerous diet and will tuck into snakes and scorpions – as part of the mongoose family they are immune to much of the venom. I was quite relieved to be feeding them a less jeopardous lunch of vegetables.
They ravenously devoured their bowlful.
Anya assured me they were regularly fed and that this was usual dinnertime behaviour.
'Otterly' Adorable - Keeper For A Day Experience
Brazenly rubbing their tail on the grass, the two sleek otters quickly came out of their cosy indoor pen doing a bit of scent marking on their way. Enticed by the scent of the raw fish – rather them than me – they looked up expectantly as I was about to throw their lunch into the enclosure.
With super sharp teeth and super sharp claws, it was wise not to get too close to a hungry otter.
First to be flung into their pen was the slippery beady eyed fish head which was rapidly consumed, followed by handfuls of small oily fish, and an assortment of shellfish.
They didn’t seem as interested in anything in a shell, maybe it seemed like too much hard work to get to the good stuff inside, but they eagerly gobbled up the soft fish. Each time they found one of the tasty treats I had thrown in for them, they waddled to the water in their enclosure and used their webbed paws to give it a wash before tucking in. I headed straight to the sinks after feeding them to wash my hands.
'Goat-aly' friendly creatures
Steve the very big goat, (his head came up to my shoulder!), enjoyed a good sniff of me and tried to eat my shoelaces as I entered his pen to say hello.
There were no particular checks to be done and no food to be given, this was simply a visit to these ‘goatally’ great animals. Some smaller goats, all with chocolate names, jumped over bales of hay and each other, full of energy. They came up for a bit of a fuss and nuzzled next to my legs.
Wallaby my friend?
It was lunchtime for the Bennett’s Wallabies. They were a little more wary of me and chose to keep their distance in the field.
I had a bowl of vegetables and threw handfuls of chopped cabbage, pieces of carrots and vegetable pellets as they edged a little nearer.
It was a wallaby that was the reason for the wildlife park coming into existence after one was rescued when it was spotted hopping along the A64. I was equally impressed and envious at the power they have in their back legs. I’d quite like some of that springiness to assist me in my running!
'Shell' we see the Tortoise?
Slowing down towards the end of the day, we popped into the tortoise enclosure to do a visual check on how they all were.
Ranging from the size of a pet tortoise, to a small dog, they were much swifter than I had thought they would be.
The big hard shell did seem a bit cumbersome for the larger varieties as they clumsily bashed into walls when they tried to turn around.
Wild Day Out - Keeper For A Day Experience
It was a really fantastic experience, and I am so grateful to Anya who brought so much to it. She could easily have had me raking up muck all day, but instead she kindly got me involved with as much as she could, getting behind the scenes and hands on. Easily relaying facts, information and stories about all of the animals and being very patient with my constant badgering of questions, she was a great guide.
There are other creatures at the park, but due to covid and extra precautions being in place we weren’t able to interact with them all. However I was able to wander around the park at my own pace after the experience. This allowed me to take the time to visit any animals we hadn’t had the opportunity to see.
It was a brilliant experience, incredibly informative, really well run and a wonderful park.
Want To Try It Yourself?
- Lots of wildlife parks and zoos now offer hands on experiences with their creatures so it’s worth having a look on line for what might be available near you.
- My experience was at Askham Bryan Wildlife Park. Whilst they no longer offer the keeper for a day experience, there are animal encounter experiences which can be booked for weekends or school holidays.
- If you love animals, take a look at these other wildlife experiences that I’ve tried as part of Challenge Fifty-Two.
Cost Of Experience
My experience was a Christmas Present from my sister and they no longer offer the exact same thing. However, for the one hour animal experience it starts from £50 for 1-2 people.
Recommendations
- If you like animals you’ll love a hands on experience. Not only will you get close to some amazing wildlife, you’ll learn so much too.
- This is a brilliant experience gift for any animal lovers in your life.
- Wrap up warm in the winter as you’re likely to be outside.
- Don’t be put off if you think you’re a bit squeamish about any insects or the food you have to handle, or the animals you’ll meet. The keepers want you to have a good experience so won’t make you do anything you don’t want to.
- Don’t forget your camera!
- If you like animals, find out more about the time I experienced what it was like to feed a giraffe.