One of the best gifts you can give at Christmas is an experience voucher. I’ve used websites like BuyAGift and Red Letter Days before for presents and there’s so much to choose from. One of my favourite experiences involve animals; so you can imagine how pleased I was to unwrap a Binturong Experience on Christmas Day!
You might be aware that I love raccoons. I don’t know where this love of trash pandas came from, but I just think they’re hilarious. One Saturday afternoon, I was walking around my home city of Lichfield and came across a man with a raccoon sat on his shoulders. I have no idea why he was there, but he said that if I gave a couple of quid to charity then I could hold the raccoon. This was the best day of my life. You know when mothers go on about that feeling of overwhelming love that they get when they first hold their baby? Well, that’s how I felt when I held the raccoon. Honestly.
So, with my weird raccoon obsession in mind, I was bought a Binturong experience for Christmas which involves meeting a raccoon.
Hoo Farm Animal Kingdom
Hoo Farm Animal Kingdom is based in Telford, Shropshire. It’s a 45 minute drive from my house, but I had never actually heard of it before. Based 6 miles away from Telford and 16 miles from Shrewsbury, it is a family run attraction and is situated in 32 acres of woodland. They have around 50 different species of animals, from the red fox to the skunk to servals.
Binturong Experience
Hoo Farm offer a few different animal experiences, but my particular one was the Binturong Experience. As I mentioned earlier, Leigh picked this one because you get to meet a raccoon. Neither of us had heard of a binturong before and didn’t know what to expect from the binturong experience really, although the description on the RedLetterDays gift experience gave us a bit of an idea:
Get face to face with exotic animals at an award-winning conservation centre. Begin by meeting either the resident raccoon or the raccoon dogs. Don’t be fooled, although they bear a strong resemblance to raccoons with their interesting striped markings and black eyes, they’re not related at all! Help dish out their favourite foods and get a chance to stroke them, before a cuddle with a brush tailed possum who’s always up for being spoiled. The star of the show is undoubtedly the binturong: a feline face, a body a bit like a bear’s, long black fur and a monkey-esque tail as long as its body, it’s a strange looking mammal but also incredibly smart, friendly and cute. Find out more about this vulnerable species and leave with photos to cherish.
The binturong which is native to south and south east Asia is also known as a ‘bearcat’. That sounds amazing, doesn’t it? I like bears and I like cats, so if a binturong is a mixture of the two, of course I was going to love it!
Starting the Binturong Experience
When we arrived at Hoo Farm, we checked in at the main entrance and waited for the keeper to collect us. If we had arrived any earlier, we would have been able to explore the park beforehand. There were four of us in the group (the experience is for two people), so it was very intimate. When he got to us, he read out a brief safety statement and then handed us a waterproof jacket, safety goggles and gloves.
Binturongs
The first animal that we went to see were the binturongs. At Hoo Farm, they have two binturongs, a male and a female called Chewy and Rae. We were advised to keep our gloves on at all times. The binturongs, although quite friendly, have very sharp claws. You don’t want to be accidentally injured by them! First we were introduced to the two binturongs, Chewy and Rae. The keeper told us a bit more about them and then we were able to feed them. Although there was a mixture of different fruits and vegetables available, they only seemed to want the bananas off us. We had to hold our hands out flat and offer the banana to them. They were very gentle when taking the food off us.
These two particular binturongs were very playful. They love being on the keeper’s shoulders and Rae in particular spent a lot of time on him. At one point, she threw herself off him and was hanging upside down, wanting to play. We were told that we could take off a glove and stroke the back end of Rae. I was surprised that her fur was really wiry. It was almost like stroking a German shepherd’s fur.
Raccoon
Next up was the animal that I was the most excited for, the raccoon. At Hoo Farm, they have five raccoons in total. They all live in one enclosure together apart from Bear. Bear did live with the other raccoons, but unfortunately they bullied him and he had to be separated. Their enclosures are next to each other, so he can still see the other raccoons and communicate with them if he wants to.
When we got into his enclosure, bear was wrapped up in his hammock. Apparently, this is his favourite way to sleep. When we went over to him and he was uncovered from his hammock, he kept trying to hide his face away. He soon perked up though, when he saw the banana that we had for him. We took it in turns feeding him pieces of banana, which he loved. We were also able to stroke him without gloves on. He is such a softie and so friendly. Once he had finished his banana, he tucked himself back up into his hammock for an afternoon nap.
Possum
The final animal on this experience was a possum named Lena. Her enclosure was indoors and was quite dark. We were told how the possums are considered pests in New Zealand. They have been eating kiwi eggs and are responsible for them now being endangered. They also eat the bark off trees, which then kills the trees, so they are responsible for a lot of deforestation as well.
I didn’t realise how big possums were, I was expecting her to be small like a ferret. Lena is the reason why we were given the waterproof jackets. She likes to climb all over people and will also pee as she walks. We fed her spinach which is her favourite food. We were advised to wear the goggles as she has been known to jump on heads and her claws can be very dangerous near eyes. I didn’t think that my photos had come out very well, but luckily I shot them in RAW and managed to make them look half decent in Lightroom.
The binturong experience lasted just under an hour. I enjoyed every part of it and am considering going again.
