A Discovery in the Harvest Mice Enclosure!

When cleaning one of our Harvest Mice enclosures this week, the keepers were delighted to find some incredibly cute baby mice hidden inside the nest!
The adult mice build their nests from materials they collect up such as the hay and leaves provided for them inside the enclosure.
The baby mice are born pink after a gestation of between 18 - 21 days. They will then start venturing out of the nest to start exploring at approximately 10 -12 days of age. Once the youngsters are around 8 weeks old they'll be fully weaned and independent!
Once at this stage, they will be moved into a nursery enclosure where they will stay for around 3 - 4 weeks before being housed into same-sex groups in the main enclosures. By separating the males and females we are able to control any indiscriminate breeding.
The adult harvest mice are only around 3-4cm in size so you can imagine how tiny their babies are!

Animal Keeper/Presenter vacancy at Seaview Wildlife for 2013 season

 

A unique opportunity has arisen to join the dynamic Animal Care Team at Seaview Wildlife - the Island's most interactive  Award Winning Wildlife Attraction.   This is a seasonal position from March to September/October, 2013.  The Park leads the way in interactive animal experiences for all ages and is looking for a candidate that will be self-motivated with excellent customer care skills, attention to detail  a priority together with a positive aptitude is essential for this demanding role .


The position involves all animal husbandry duties and giving daily presentations to our visitors plus, supervising and organising our extremely popular V.I.P. Wildlife Encounters. (See our link for an outline of these Encounters http://www.seaviewwildlife.com/summary/wildlife_encounters/ ).  The job requires a mature, friendly, outgoing person with a very hands-on approach. Applicants should be well spoken, team-orientated and physically fit, able to roll up their sleeves and willing to get involved.
This is a demanding, outdoor role, five days a week including weekends and bank holidays.
Hours: 8.30am - 4.30pm (flexible)

Animal care/zoo management qualification preferred or similar hands-on, animal care experience  essential. Will need to live locally as accommodation is not provided.
Please send a current CV with a covering letter to Lorraine Adams Director either by email to: info@seaviewwildlife.com or by post to Seaview Wildlife Encounter, Oakhill Road, Seaview, Isle Of Wight. PO34 5AP. CLOSING DATE 10th March, 2013

UNIQUE MOTHER’S DAY GIFT IDEAS AT SEAVIEW WILDLIFE

Winter Keeper Updates

During the winter months when the park is closed to the public, some of the keepers take the opportunity to have some time off and go travelling!
Currently Fern is away on holiday in New Zealand, whilst Charlotte has just returned from two months exploring South East Asia with one of the previous animal keepers Holly!
Whilst visiting Thailand, Malaysia, Bali and Singapore, Holly and Charlotte encountered a huge variety of wildlife including Hornbills, Kingfishers, Egrets, Herons, Orioles, White Bellied Sea Eagles, Dusky Leaf Monkeys, Long-tailed Macaques, Monitor Lizards, several species of Gecko and Skink and hundreds of insects and creepy crawlies!
 

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The highlight though was snorkelling in Thailand and Bali with thousands of tropical fish, corals and invertebrates as well as encountering up close a group of Cuttlefish, giant Moray Eels, an Octopus and two incredible Green Sea Turtles!

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From the beautiful beaches, lush rainforests and rich mangroves of the wild to the contrast of the busy cities, stunning temples and local villages, these countries really make a fascinating place for anyone to visit and explore.
 

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The Biggest Baddest Bucket List - Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is encouraging entries into My Destination’s recently launched global competition, by offering their own ISLE OF WIGHT COMPETITION… read on to find out why and how to enter...

Heard of The Biggest, Baddest Bucket List?

My Destination’s Biggest Baddest Bucket List launched on 28^th January 2013. Since then, there has been an incredible buzz going around the global travel community, who are now talking about ‘the world’s biggest ever travel competition’.
The prize is an amazing all expenses paid trip around the world – Six Months – Six Continents! The winner will choose at least 25 destinations from the My Destination network, meeting the ‘local experts’ and being able to tick off loads of awesome activities from their own bucket list. They’ll be blogging as they go so that we can all follow their adventure! As if that’s not enough, when the winner arrives home they’ll receive $50,000… about £32,000!
To enter, you have to simply make a video about a destination of your choice – it can be your home town if you like, or maybe your favourite holiday destination? It just needs to be somewhere that you know well. Submit the video, along with a short blog and some photos, then spread the word and start getting votes!
It will take a little time and thought, but we hear that lots of excited people are already preparing their videos and blogs, so we expect the entries to start flowing in soon!  Entrants have until 31^st March 2013 to enter but get filming ASAP to give yourself plenty of time to get lots of votes. It's not all about votes though...  5 of the 'top 10' will instead be chosen by staff at My Destination HQ and Ben Southall - winner of 'The Best Job in the World'... make sure you get noticed with your super-star personality and reporting skills!
So, tell everyone who you know would LOVE this fantastic opportunity!

Isle of Wight Competition

When My Destination Isle of Wight told the Isle of Wight Tourist Board Visit Isle of Wight and local ferry company Wightlink about The Biggest Baddest Bucket list, they were just as excited as us and have decided to get involved.
Why? Well just like us, they can see that this global competition could be a fantastic way to spread the word about our beautiful island. Imagine if the Isle of Wight could encourage lots of video entries about the Isle of Wight, which will be viewed and voted for by people all over the world? Even better, imagine if the Isle of Wight video gets to the top 10 or even wins?!
So, how is the Isle of Wight encouraging video entries about the island?
This Isle of Wight is running its own mini competition, with an additional local prize for all video entries about the Isle of Wight. The Isle of Wight competition is designed to encourage as many Isle of Wight video entries as possible!
(However, the ‘mini competition’ is completely separate from The Biggest Baddest Bucket List and will therefore in no way influence the outcome of the global competition.)
The Prize
Tom’s Eco Lodge is a luxury camping experience (also known as ‘glamping’) on the Isle of Wight. These outstanding lodges are perfect for extremely comfortable outdoor living, packed full of all the home comforts and facilities you will need for a care-free, wonderful holiday. Tom is kindly giving away a 5 night stay for  4 - 6 people.
www.mydestination.com/isleofwight/travel-articles/721581/the-biggest-baddest-bucket-list---isle-of-wight

OWL ENCLOSURE HAVING EXTREME MAKEOVER

Our Eurasian Owl enclosure is under going an extreme makeover!  Where there was once three sections these have now been completely removed and the whole area opened up which looks fantastic. Not just visually but for our very loveable characters Amber and Marzibar who are relishing in having sucn an abundance of space and an open flying area.

We are now sourcing old farm and garden implements to fine tune the area and to make it look really special.  If you have any old ploughs, wooden gates, wheelbarrows, pitch forks etc. that you don’t want and think would look nice in our Owl exhibit to help with the transformation we would be very grateful.  In exchange we will donate complimentary family passes to the Park for the 2013 season!  Please email info@seaviewwildlife.com  (Will obviously have to be local to the Island for ease of collection…)

CATERING VACANCIES FOR THE 2013 SEASON

Our Catering Department has seasonal vacancies for Kitchen  & Counter Assistants for the 2013 season.  March 23rd to September/October (flexible according to weather and trade).
Kitchen Assistant: To assist in the kitchen area with food preparation working alongside the Head Chef.  Duties will include prep of light lunches,  sandwiches etc… and the  implementation of food hygiene standards and any other catering duties as required.  This position is for a mature person with previous experience in the catering trade.  Five days a week to include weekends and bank holidays.  Around 20 - 25+ hours (flexible) per week increasing during holiday and busy periods.
Counter Assistant: To assist with serving customers, use of tills, coffee & ice cream machines , cleaning and maintaining high hygiene standards.  No cooking involved  but candidate must have excellent customer care skills and works well within a team environment.  Five days a week to include weekends and bank holidays. Around 20 - 25+ hours per week (flexible) increasing during holiday and busy periods.
Please email a covering letter and current CV to Lorraine Adams Director at  info@seaviewwildlife.com or by post to Seaview Wildlife Encounter, Oakhill Road, Seaview, Isle Of Wight.  PO34 5AP.  Closing date March 1st, 2013