We had a great day spreading awareness about British native wildlife and their need for protection and conservation at Sayer’s Croft for the Ewhurst Family Fun Day.

Providing people with the opportunity to encounter many of these animals for the first time, some of which they’d never heard of, is very rewarding. We had some fantastic conversations covering topics such as wildlife conservation, heathland habitats, wildlife rehabilitation, invasive species, animal adaptations, falconry practices in bird of prey conservation and how to create a wildlife friendly garden.

​The reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates we brought with us were of great interest. Of course Freddie our tawny owl was very popular as usual, but the little hedgehog was definitely a firm favourite!

We were very excited to be invited to Brixton with a few of our animal ambassadors to provide some of the members with an education talk on British wildlife. We had a great time talking about British reptiles with the chance to handle our rarest native reptile. We also brought along our little hoglet and Freddie the tawny owl.

​For these children it was their first time seeing any of these animals, and what a privilege it was to share some of our most elusive and wonderful native wildlife with you all! Thank you for having us

What an incredible time we have had over our two days at Surrey Hills Primary School! Across the two days we gave an educational talk and animal encounter to all 170 pupils in groups of 15-25. All children were amazingly behaved around the animals and fully engaged in our talks.

We started off  discussing British wildlife and habitats, then had a deeper look into heathland and how we can protect it - including preventing wildfires which is a major concern in this super dry weather! This then led us to having a look at five out of our six native reptiles and an amphibian in real life, with the opportunity for a bit of smooth snake and slow worm handling. It is always wonderful giving children their first opportunity at handling a reptile and busting myths in order for them not to be feared.

A hedgehog was next which was certainly a firm favourite, we talked about how we can improve our gardens to help conserve Britain's declining population of wild hedgehogs. We then had a look at an invasive species - the yellow-tailed scorpion - and tested out their fluorescence under UV light, and finished up with talking all about tawny owls and their adaptations with our very well behaved tawny owl ambassador.

​What a pleasure it was to provide both staff and pupils with the opportunity to see many of these animals for the first time. I was very impressed with the pupil's existing knowledge and engagement in the talks, and happy to hear that by the end they all went away excited to make their gardens hedgehog friendly. We had a fantastic two days, thank you for inviting us!

We had a fantastic British wildlife encounter on Friday, surprising Jemima for her birthday! We brought a variety of British reptiles and amphibians alongside our lovely tawny owl Freddie and a very special hedgehog guest.

We started out having a look at the reptiles and amphibian and a few of the children got the once in a lifetime chance to handle Britain’s rarest reptile - the smooth snake. They then saw the fluorescence of scorpions under UV light and had the opportunity to see an orphaned hoglet that needed to come with us for hand feeding as he’s still on regular milk formula feeds. Everyone loved watching him feed and self anoint!

Both the adults and the children were then able to handle Freddie the tawny owl. They were taught how to responsibly hold a bird of prey in the safety position and the correct positioning of the fist to ensure it is most comfortable for the bird.
Of course there was also lots of chat about owls too! This was the first experience this lovely group have had to handle an owl and they did amazingly well. I think the smiles say it all.