Imagine waking up one morning to find that your house has been invaded by wild animals.This is what happened to me one weekend.I'd got up earlier than usual one morning and plodded sleepily downstairs.I'd reached the foot of the stairs when i heard cries-a baby was crying,or so i thought.That was odd, there weren't any babies living in our house.I went to investigate and got the fright of my life when i opened the door,for there in the middle of our living room,were two lions and two bears.My first instinct was to run away but my mother called me back,laughing.When i'd calmed down enough to take a closer look,i saw that the ferocious invaders were really only cubs.Mum explained that she'd brought them home from work to care for,as they had been rejected by their own mothers.I should explain that work was Belle Vue Zoo, where mum was the zoo's nutritionist and was responsible for the food and diets of all the animals,she was also responsible for looking after sick and rejected animals.The bears and lion cubs soon became part of our family.They stayed with us for about nine months,and during that time our daily routine revolved around them.It was a busy time as all the cubs had to be bottle fed every two hours day and night.At first the cubs were all tiny bundles of fur with their eyes closed,but it was'nt long before they were able to run about and play.It was fun to watch them and even join in with a friendly fight.Time passed quickly ad before we knew it the time had come for the cubs to return to the zoo.The house was suddenly quiet without these cubs to which were a loving part of our family.Summer time soon came and the cubs were developing to good strong adults and soon adapted to zoo life.We were due to go on our anual holiday to blackpool when mum came home with yet another baby, this time it was a monkey.The monkey was only seven inches long and just three hours old and was also rejected by her mother.We named her penny and she too became part of our family,she came everywhere with us on holiday and was great fun.When we returned home mum then brought back a leopard cub and the house began to buzz with the wildlife again.Mum was aked to appear on various programmes inc Animal Magic and both my parents became celebs in their day.Dad also worked at the zoo,he was a head zoo keeper and always loved animals as he used to be a jockey and we lived on a farm in Berkshire so animal life was our life.As time passed on and the leopard cub grew ,the monkey grew and we also had two goats which were all looked after at home until they were old enough to return to the zoo.There was never a dull moment as we had a further two leopard cubs and three lion cubs which we named sara,simon and sam,all these cubs kept there names in there adult life at the zoo.
|
Time passed on so quickly and rumours that the zoo was to close hit home badly.All that was left for a while was the childrens farm which was the last thing to close.Mum and Dad were there until the very end and sadly witnessed a number of animals being destroyed including our lovely three lion cubs,our monkey was sent to another zoo together with the leopards and bears.My story was written in school in 1981 and too this day fond memorys of the times we had are still here daily.I have read many articles and books about the zoo but none state the smith family and linda and Barry smith who held an important role within the years they were there.As a kid i was proud to help out with the animals and as an adult now was proud of the times and experience we had.
I will never forget the zoo in our house.
|
