Giant otter

Tuesday
Today we visited the Chestnut Centre in Chapel-en-le-Frith, an otter, owl and wildlife park. Janet had no other commitments today so she was able to join us. Whilst otters and owls form the bulk of the collection, they also have pine martens, polecats, red foxes, Scottish wildcats and deer. The day had dawned sunny and bright, but even before we left the house, more clouds had moved in. However it was still dry when we arrived. They had Eurasian otters, Asian short-clawed otters, North American otters and Giant otters. I could have stood and watched them all day - especially the Giant otters which were most playful. Although there are thirteen species of otter in the world, the giant otter is definitely the largest. Found only in South America, they now mainly inhabit Surinam and Guyana, having been virtually wiped out from the Amazon basin. In 2000, the giant otter was moved from "vulnerable" to "endangered", and it is believed only about 3,000 remain in the wild. It is also relatively rare in captivity. It is diurnal, being active exclusively during daylight hours and is also the noisiest of the otter species. As we watched them we sensed that they were expecting something, which we assumed to be feeding time, and we were correct, as after a while, a couple of keepers arrived with buckets of food. About 15 species of owls were represented. The rain moved in as we were nearing the end of our tour, lightly at first, but more steadily while we were having a late lunch in the cafe. But, not to be beaten by the weather, we went on to Bugsworth Basin near Whaley Bridge, a canal basin at the terminus of the Peak Forest Canal., and once a busy interchange with the Peak Forest Tramway, for the transport of limestone and burnt lime. In 2005 the basin reopened to boat traffic after a £1.2 million restoration. Work included sealing the bottom of the basin to stop leakage, stonework repair and environmental measures to conserve the site's protected water vole population. We went for a walk along the basin and the canal into Whaley Bridge and back - by then the rain was getting heavier, and it was time to head back anyway, as in the evening we were all going out to eat to celebrate John's birthday - the three of us, Janet and John, Roger's parents and John's Dad.