On Friday a lorry skidded to a halt outside the visitor centre and the driver, looking pale and shaken, came in to tell us that he had had a near miss. Aparently one of our animals was making taking a run for it and heading for the Weedy Pit. The animal in question (aka Mud-slide Slim) turned out to be a Yellow-bellied Slider, which is a close relative of the American Red-eared Terrapin. I've been keeping him in a paddling pool at home since then, but he's off to a rescue charity next week, near Bourne. Apparently they will ship him to turtle paradise in Italy. (It doesn't make any sense to me either.) We don't want alien species like this on the reserve as they may eat native species. All the same, I don't think they can breed in the UK as the summers are not hot enough. Terrapins are in sevarla local lakes and the river where people have released unwanted pets.
This week we put our first two cattle in the great meadow. They are Highland bullocks, but they don't yet have a name. E-mail me with your ideas please. I like "Ross and Cromarty" myself.
