Page 20 - Ratel 2023 Summer

Ratel volume 50, issue number 2

probably wasn’t right and perhaps that pool should have been bigger, care for birds and encourage birds to perform and behave that’s not
etc, and that was my first experience of the amazing, awesome world, everybody’s cup of tea. I wasn’t brainwashed, I could see the reaction
that is looking after incredible animals but also very much under the I’m getting from the birds and how we got the behaviours. Using
spotlight. And you think when I started we were still getting the all that physical prowess of the birds and showing off all their best
dolphin to retrieve stuff, like litter and stuff out of the pool, but it bits I absolutely blooming loved it. One of the shows that the
was very much a commentary based on behaviours that were Blooms had was at Longleat. And so I rocked up to Longleat March
adjusted. I think now if we tried to do that with the prop and the 1987. It sounds cheesy now really, but more or less fell in love with
gimmick you know you’d be cast out of town and bricks would be the place straight away. Tiny little bird show in the old pets corner,
thrown at you. Since the management of those species has developed I found a friend to do the show. I came back the next year to do it
as well as our understanding of them and their living requirements again and decided not to leave. I asked Reg (Bloom) if I could stay
I think now lets run them properly. And I would say looking back, at Longleat. And when I went in to pets corner it was a proper old
here now its 2023, we do care for animals different, not wholly and zoo. They still had baby chimpanzees in there, they had grey
always totally better, by the way. There’s a point to be made. I felt kangaroos on a little concrete paddock. I felt quite safe and
very proud to front a dolphin and killer whale presentation in front comfortable knowing that this has got a future here because I could
of 2000 people, getting them wet, talking about dangers, speeds that change the world if I could just stick this out. The general manager
animals can get to, jumping, splashing, dorsal fins. I remember the at the time, we talked and they said yeah we will do our own show.
commentary even now. I could probably do that now. And that was I borrowed some birds off the Blooms, talk about biting the hand
right because you were educating and engaging, and that’s what I that fed you really. I started the show, we developed some of our
want and that’s what I still want today. I love to see people loving own birds and at the same time I took over what was then pets
animals, sharing that passion that we have and learning from them, corner and started having the freedom to build my own little mini
having a memory. world how I’d seen it all my life. I was working for a company that
was changing and Longleat certainly was changing. I was very lucky
I wasn’t there very long because what actually happened was really the head warden at the time, knew loads of people in the zoo world
bizarre. I’d spend all morning most mornings, picking up littler from and had come up through the ranks like me. But with him, […] we’d
under the seats. The more experienced keepers there were doing build something, we’d draw it and we’d say will this work for our
the pool work and the training. But then I would do shows, I would guests and animals. Is this good welfare, are the animals right for
help and I would be part of that education team and that this and of course we changed stuff. We got rid of the chimpanzees
entertainment team. But an opportunity came up to go and work and the cages. We got rid of the kangaroos on the concrete. And
with the parrots, and I preferred that. Perhaps it was the freedom, previous to me, I’ve got team members now that have been working
it was the bond with the birds, the guy that was doing the parrots here a long time before me, they remember leopards in small cages
was a nice fella he taught me some of the ropes. The family that and lions on leads and elephants walking around. And I said earlier,
Nemo the killer whale belonged to, Peter Bloom, said to me if ever that kind of thing was right back then. Nobody really questioned it.
you get fed up of doing parrots at Windsor give me a call. Theres We now realise that there a very different way to present and keep
no such thing really as a missed opportunity. Decide to go left animals and their welfare comes first. That understanding has
instead of right, it’s just a different route. The ability and the freedom happened. So of course I probably wasn’t the most popular person
that I had with the birds, same bonds, same caring, same husbandry, because I started changing things and I could see right from wrong,
without so much spotlight as the killer whales, that was just a I could see growth, better ways of doing it, and thankfully I was
different journey, a different path. So I took that. I decided to leave given permission to do it. And you’re judged on your results.
Windsor and go and work for Blooms. That was really the path that
I enjoyed the most. They had bird shows all over the country. I was
looking after their full collection, they were based at Flamingo Land,
they had several shows and my job really was to keep the birds
ticking over, take them to somewhere drop them off to a presenter, I would suggest it would be persistence and don’t give up. Don’t
go on and do the next one and then eventually all the birds are out. set in stone too tight a remit what you’re expecting out of your life
I stay somewhere, and then went around and picked all the birds up or your career. Around every corner there is gonna be a curveball,
at the end of the season. And that’s a seven day a week job, there there is gonna be a wall or hurdle. But equally, around the next
are no days off. My life was working seven days a week for birds. corner there’s gonna be an opportunity. And I would suggest if
They were everything. And the Blooms were very kind, they took you’re gonna say I want to look after ungulates and I’m gonna work
me in as almost like part of their family. They taught me stuff, I just at this place, well I think that’s the wrong thing to do. It’s not bad
respect those lessons to this day. The knowledge shared on how to to have a target as such, but don’t make it your only one because if

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