ANIMALS ABOUND AROUND

OK, so here they are! I did see the first lamb a couple of weeks ago, and these are the twenty first but at last I had my camera with me at the right time. I spent last week at my sister's and she reminded me that we had seen the earliest lambs while she was visiting me "oop north" last year, and so I returned to Alwent's farm just outside Staindrop and was greeted by a field full of these. Most ewes seemed to have had twins and the bleating and baa-ing was quite a cacophony.While I was visiting my sister, I spent some time at the window with my camera poised while I waited for the black squirrels to appear. They move too fast and this is the best of my efforts. I have seen many of these black squirrels whilst in Canada and apparently they were brought to a park in England and have escaped and dominated the small areas where they are found. So the grey squirrel is wiping out the red squirrel and now the black squirrel is winning the game.

I also had time to check out DUNE the corn snake. He is a big boy now and at least five feet in length. I am OK with snakes and gave him fresh water and tickled him a bit (through the glass!).
He was only a few inches long a few years ago! He did not need feeding while I was there because snakes only need about one mouse a week. They do so little activity that their metabolic rate is very low. This snake needs a couple of large volumes parked on the lid of his home to stop him lifting the roof when he gets anxious for a look-see.


I've been out and about today but will save that for a separate blog entry.

Cheers to all
Gillian