November 2015TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF! | I made a calendar for a friend for Christmas and thought I'd share the pictures over the year on my website. To stop people doing the usual calendar thing and looking at all the year's pictures straight away I'm releasing them on the first day of each month. |
Last night was the first ever 'Wild Audience With...' At the Lyric Theatre on Shaftsbury Avenue, London. This was an idea I stole from Robin Ince and Brian Cox after seeing 'Uncaged Monkeys' live - a great format of short varied lectures on the subject of science. I was convinced there would be an audience of wildlife enthusiasts out there who would appreciate a similar evening based on natural history. Jo Sarsby, my extremely talented agent, went out on a limb and secured a theatre, sponsorship (from the wonderful Steppes Travel) and four cracking speakers, namely Doug Allan, Lucy Cooke, Martin Hughes-Games and Steve Backshall. All of these guys are seasoned orators but this was a format that was very different for all us, especially for me as I was hosting the event. Topics ranged from glorious big cats and sharks to wonderfully entertaining sloths. Rehearsals were shabby to say the least as trying to get the energy up with an empty auditorium is tough. However, later on with a fantastic crowd giving us the boost we needed, we had a great night. Here are a few tweeted reviews: @tuttsweet: Thank you all, it was a wonderful & fascinating evening. x @SophieDay_23: Absolute best night of the year! Thank you @adelecarlson: fascinating insights & incredibly engaging #AWildAudienceWith @missfoggtravels: #awesome Massive thanks are owed to Jo and her team, the excellent theatre staff and our wonderful audience. We have one more night available if anyone fancies joining us: Monday 15th December 2014 http://www.nimaxtheatres.com/mobile/show/a_wild_audience_with We also hope to make this an annual event with a range of speakers and topics so hopefully see some of you again next year! 3:35am, 12th September 2014Having worked with lots of infant primates in the past... ... I thought 'how hard can it be to rear one of our own?' Cathy and I are now parents of a lovely daughter, Severn Leonard (named after the River Severn). She arrived a week ago and is already ruling our lives. She is, officially, the most beautiful baby in the world (not just me saying this, my mum thinks so too and she is very fair). It's an incredible experience to go through watching Cathy's body change and adapt to this amazing task. Understanding the physiology behind it makes it no less special. Mammals are extraordinary parents. No dropping off thousands of babies in the sea and hoping one or two make it, for us. We are hard-wired to nurture and protect this tiny helpless bambino for the rest of our lives (according to my Mum it never goes away). Severn is the most fascinating and captivating creature I have ever met... ...and Bruce seems happy with her too.
Working trips always get referred to as 'holidays' by the people back home because:
a) You come home with a tan b) You had a great time (even if it was exhausting) and most importantly... c) You went on a plane. This last trip to Zim was a mixture of holiday & work, and I even brought some 'homework' with me. I have been into a few local primary schools to talk to the kids about my job as a vet here in the UK and my work with wildlife abroad. It's a challenge to teaching 7 year olds and I take my hat off to those who manage to keep them on topic and engaged day in, day out. I'm lucky that I get to teach them cool stuff about animals that manages to interest pretty much every kid that age. I try to stress the importance of working hard at school so they can get to do amazing stuff too when their older. I also agree to answer any questions they may have IF they write it in a letter to me. This is why I have envelopes full of really good questions such as "how long is an elephants trunk?" and "How many animals are there in the world?" and my favourite "What's the kindest animal?". This last one Cathy was adamant I should answer "The Horse". Not even remotely in my experience! Shut your ears Bruce, I said "The Dog". At home watching Andy Murray playing at Wimbledon on the Telly, reflecting on the last 2 weeks Cathy and I spent in Zimbabwe. A fantastic trip back to an extraordinary country. Our first week was spent with a lovely group of wildlife enthusiasts all wishing to get up close and personal with the fantastic Painted Dogs. As patron of Painted Dog Conservation (PDC), I was along to share my experiences with one of Africa's most endangered large carnivores (second only to the Ethiopian Wolf) and to inform the group about the amazing work done by PDC helping to preserve this beautiful animal and the local communities that live along side it. For the first few days we were joined by PDC founder, Dr Greg Rasmussen, who has recently left PDC to continue his research (forming the new Painted Dog Research Trust, click HERE to visit their page), and we were rewarded with fantastic dog encounters in the stunning Mana Pools. The rest of the trip was spent in the area of Hwange National Park, seeing the dogs there and the incredible work done by PDC to support them and the local communities around the centre. Our guests' last morning involved coming into one of the local villages to see a domestic dog vaccination clinic run in co-operation between PDC, the local government vet and Wildlife Vets International (of who I am a patron also - see WVI page HERE). Compared to our last visit, both Cathy and I were better prepared. We had another batch of amazing donations from multiple medical companies that made our lives so much easier (battery operated hair clippers - essential!). Back to back neutering for me and Cathy over 4 days saw us spay six bitches and castrate over 60 dogs! My back was in bits (and I'm not over 6 months pregnant like my awesome wife)! Over 840 dogs (and a couple of cats) were vaccinated against rabies. The dogs were also vaccinated against distemper, parvovirus and other lethal diseases - protecting them and the wildlife they come into contact with. A great effort once again by all involved. Also thanks to: Millpledge Vet Ltd, Vétiquonol UK , Burtons Veterinary Equipment, MediMark Scientific, Meadows Animal Healthcare, Norbrook UK, Virbac UK, Safe4 Disinfectants for their kind donations. For more information: see my PDC page by CLICKING HERE, or WVI page by CLICKING HERE or see previous blogs on this page from June 2012
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December 2019
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