Working with kids and animals

Don’t work with children or animals! Apparently that’s how the old adage goes. I will say this though; many of my fondest memories involve both. I haven’t done a blog for some time due to a multitude of reasons but today spurred me on to write a wee line or two. My brother in law Derek was up from Telford to visit his family. In tow he brought two of his three sons, Henry and Alastair. The boys needed to stretch their legs and really wanted to visit Drumderg wind farm. I agreed to take them even though the weather, for want of a better word, was pants! On our way we popped into Bamff to see the beaver dams and all the work that splendid animal was capable of. A few months back I had taken both boys to the river on a similar stinking evening weather-wise to see the beavers, we were lucky and saw one but it was a really nasty night and we didn’t stay too long. However, this visit seemed to pique the boys interest and I was blasted with an onslaught of questions about the beaver, they even asked how many teeth they had. Thankfully I managed to answer correctly, 20. Anyway, back to the present….the boys were still full of questions and hadn’t forgotten one thing from their previous visit. We wandered round the beaver pools looking at the dams and channels the beavers had constructed, marvelled at their industrious nature and work ethic, and totally adored the ecosystem they had created. Even though it was a rubbish day on the weather front, there were still a couple of dragonflies spotted, a few fish in the ponds and a multitude of birds taking the masses of fly life. The boys were in awe and I can assure you, the questions were coming thick and fast and I must give the boys their due, you could not only hear them putting the dots together but you could see it in their faces as to why this incredible animal, the beaver, should be given a big high five (the boys words, not mine but can’t argue). We also visited an area regularly visited by a Barn Owl and we dissected a plethora of pellets. I felt as if I was 7 again exploring these wonderful remains of an owl’s meal. To find thigh bones and lower mandibles of shrews, voles and mice encased in a ball of fluffy puke is a young boys dream; it really threw me back to my youth.

I’m not 100% sure how I feel about wind farms, green energy they provide without a doubt, however their carbon footprint must be quite large, not just in the construction but also the maintenance. They also visibly spoil our landscape but, and it’s a big BUT, they are possibly the better evil just now until we find something sustainable AND aesthetically pleasing to our eye. That is all an aside as the kids wanted to see these monsters (in a size sense) close up, and as it is not far from Bamff, we headed up to see them. Love them or loathe them, there is no denying that they are mesmeric and incredible structures to be close to. The boys were loving every second and it only got better, a maintenance crew appeared and the boys were afforded a wee keek into the lower workings of the behemoth. The crew also turned the windmill off to carry out their tasks and for the boys to see all this at first hand was a bit on the fortuitous side to say the least. As we walked back to the car we were reminded that it was still a wild place as we spotted a few birds; crows, a raven, pipits and to top it all a kestrel.

After we got home and had a wee dry out and a feed, Alastair and I visited the hide to bait the beasties. As is the norm, every feeder was empty and all the birds were reminiscent of a “Rhubard and Custard” cartoon, sitting on every branch waiting to be fed. Alastair did a grand job of filling all the feeders and laying out the marten’s tea time snack. Once we had all the work completed we sat down to enjoy the show. As is usual, the majority of birds on show were the chaffinch, possibly reaching 30 in number with a good amount of Blue, Great and Coal tits. A visit by mum and dad woodpecker was next then one of the wood pigeons. Suddenly, a warning call from a Great tit….was it a marten? Unfortunately not but on the plus side it was 10 Jays!!!! The look on Alastair’s face was magical; “What are they? Weird looking pigeons….wow, Uncle Bob, they are great” No words can convey how I felt right then. Knowing I had created an area for wildlife to congregate, that my nephew felt in awe about, still has me smiling. We didn’t stay too long as the young man had had a long day so inevitably we missed any marten visit but on our way home we saw a buzzard feeding on worms in a field and a wee herd of melan Fallow bucks. I would almost say they were melanistic as they were really on the dark side. I think I had a couple of happy nephews today as I know they had a really chuffed uncle. Their demeanour around nature and their inquisitiveness as to the natural world was a breath of fresh air that I was truly in need of and enjoyed immensely.

As a Trustee for three years with SWBG (Scottish Wild Beaver Group), my own personal goal was the education of the next generation. This was a role I truly cherished and totally immersed myself in. I delivered presentations to over 1300 children through schools in Perthshire and Angus. It may at some points been scary and at some points mind-boggling, but it was always refreshing and more often than not, heart warming. There were also some hilarious “bloopers” that verged on subliminal x-rated material. As you will all be aware, “beaver” has a few meanings! During a presentation at a school, I passed my presentation baton to a fellow SWBG member, importantly of a female gender. The point of change was centred on beavers moving materials on to dams etc. As I passed on to my colleague with the intent of her showing how beavers moved material, I said, in a rather large voice, and I won’t use her real name, “Come on up here Alice and show the kids your beaver”. I obviously intended her to show her brilliant impression of a beaver moving materials but I think a lot was lost in translation! I must say, and I apologise greatly, the glowers from the P6 teacher totally withered me and I have never been so glad to escape a class room.

Escaping! I must admit there are a few times I have wished that I could have escaped!!! I have led tours that at every turn have delivered something new and awesome, sat down at the hide and within 10 mins a pine marten or two have turned up. On these particular days my clients think I’m Dr Doolittle and I personally, naively, stupidly, believe I’m actually doing something right. However, and I refer back to the initial statement and possibly “pride comes before a fall”. Both statements more than cover the life of a wildlife tour guide or maybe it’s just me and my luck lol. I set up the woodland hide in March with the first visit on the 1st of April (I so should have known) and a marten spotted, on the 2nd however not! There were sightings every night through the week in daylight when I was up but every weekend that I had a group at the weekend it was a no show! This continued the whole month with possibly one exception. My worst experience and I still hang my head in shame was with a group of four. Black Grouse, Adders, Green Woodpeckers, Beavers and Pine Martens were the target species. All had been showing reasonably well and I was feeling really good at getting at least 4 out of the 5, the beavers especially as I have a great record with them, green woodies less so as they are a bloody nightmare! However we had a NO show on everything. To say I was gutted doesn’t cover it but my group though equally disappointed, were very dignified on my failure to deliver and any ribbing was thankfully light hearted. In fact it was muted on more than a few occasions “let’s go see nothing next”. There is only so much disappointment that you can endure without feeling a total embarrassment and I must admit that that I hit that point at 9 in the morning. It was a tour from hell but with such lovely people it felt even worse. Most, if not all, of my clients will acknowledge, I do try hard to deliver but as I’m really starting to appreciate, wildlife doesn’t just turn up “on tap”. On that note, I have to laugh at people dismissing hides/wildlife tours in general. There are a few professional hides around and I can assure you, there is a lot of cost, background work and general maintenance that goes into providing these areas for people to see things that they may not normally see when they are out and about. Add that to when all your hard work dies a Shakespearean death that you start to take stock and wonder “why the hell am I doing this”? This next memory reminds me why and I often look back on it for a wee boost.

A few years back SWBG delivered a Beaver conference and I was one of the presenters. It was a bit of a nervous affair but I got through it with the help from a couple of great pals, Rhona and Jean. There was a lovely guy that I met at the conference, Peter Livingstone. Peter asked for a beaver tour but did mention that he wanted to bring his wife Elaine and young kids Evie, Sorley and Oran. I can’t remember rightly but Evie was around 9, the handsome young dude Sorely was 7 and Oran was about 2. We arrived at the river and the youngest was sleeping in the car. Peter and I took the eldest two to the river and oh my god it was like Mastermind less the chair! Questions after question, I was really put on my toes, On reaching the river I said “it’s best to keep quiet now kids”, I could not believe the reaction….total silence, not a word. We arrived at the regular viewing point and we sat down and waited for the beavers. We waited for ages with no show and Elaine joined us with Oran. He sat on his mum’s knee not saying a word. We waited and waited and eventually we were all gifted with the beautiful beavers putting on a show. The kids sat mesmerised in total silence watching the animals swimming and socialising before we decided to call it a day. Not a word was spoken until we reached a point that I spoke to the kids and asked “did you enjoy that”? It was like a tsunami of questions, exclamations, delight. I have never left the river to this date feeling as empowered as I did that day. Every one of those kids, adults included, delighted in what I had shown them. They were so respectful and interested in the nature that I introduced them to and when I got home I can honestly say, hand on heart, I had a tear in my eye. They are great parents and in truth most wonderful children. I have a list as long as my arm of similar experiences but these are the ones that stand out most.

So when I hit that particular wall of “why am I doing this”? I look back on my experiences with children and animals and say to myself, “It was worth EVERY second”.

I will add that I’ve had kids from all ages, seeing a mid 50’s lady bursting into tears sitting 6ft from a beaver kit, having ladies in their 60’s hitting their first Munro and seeing Ptarmigan for the first time, an 80yr old watching a pine marten and her kits; the reaction is always the same…..wonderment and joy. I love that and in reality, working with children/oldies and animals isn’t always as bad as it might seem. It’s not always easy but the rewards are more than awesome. Thank you all for the memories, good and otherwise lol