Knowle Park Nursing Home, providing the residents with an up close wildlife experience

I was really pleased to be invited to my first nursing home visit. Having a background in the care sector, I have seen first hand the positive effect that animals have on people. 

I brought all the available species with me, which included a slow worm, smooth snake, grass snake, tawny owl and Eurasian kestrel. After giving an introduction about my business and the aim to spread awareness about the decline of British wildlife and the importance of their conservation, it was time to meet the animals!

The opportunity was given for the residents to hold the rarest reptile native to the UK, the smooth snake. Most of them absolutely loved holding her and I had some fantastic discussions as I went round. For every resident it was their first time ever seeing this rare and elusive animal, despite it being native to the UK. They also held the slow worm and we had a look at the grass snake. All went down very well for the most part, with just a couple of residents not wanting to be near the snakes.

I then had the birds of prey out. A few of the residents were ecstatic to be able to hold Freddie the tawny owl on their fist. It was so rewarding to see the smiles on everybody's faces as each person got a close up view of Freddie. Bob the kestrel was a big hit too, with one lady in particular thanking me for providing her with the first chance she's had to see this small species of falcon up close. She had admired wild ones often in flight, but had never been close enough to appreciate the beauty of them.

Thank you so much for inviting us.