As today was to be my last day of holiday before the school term starts in earnest I decided to make the most of it and have a day out with my camera. So this morning I drove up to Oxfordshire to met my friend Sharon and we visited the Cotswold Wildlife Park, near Burford. We visited the park together in 2005 but since then they’ve opened a new section called Madagascar which is home to their collection of lemurs. I’ve always had a soft spot for lemurs but the enclosure at Marwell Zoo (my local zoo) is less than ideal for photography as the animals either retreat inside or you’re trying to shoot them through glass. Here the lemurs have a large enclosure which the public walk through so you can get with a matter of inches of the animals with no glass or wire in the way.

We took two walks through the lemur enclosure. In the morning they were quite lively but when we returned after lunch they were all taking their afternoon siesta –with one notable exception. There were two baby lemurs in evidence today, one of whom joined Mum for a snooze after lunch. However, the second one was evidently not sleepy at all and took great delight in exploring the nearby bushes and then returning to the sleeping huddle of lemurs and jumping all over them. He seemed quite a character, although I’m sure his mother despairs of him sometimes!

The other big hit of the day for me, unsurprisingly, was the meerkats and I took lots of photos of them. When we passed their enclosure this morning their keeper was in with them, tidying up and it was lovely to watch how inquisitive they were towards him. My favourite shots from the morning were the ones I’ve posted of one of the meerkats hiding behind the keeper’s rake, looking very cute indeed!

Beautiful Collection!! The lemurs and the meerkats are so adorable...I love the one of the lemur yawning. and the one of the meerkat peeking from behind the rake...so cute!! fantastic job..Sounds like so much fun to be able to be so close and intimate with the animals... BrandyNicole · 2009-09-10: 17:43

These are fantastic shots of extremely cute animals. Lynda · 2009-09-10: 17:46

Wonderful! Thanks, Helen! afdline · 2009-09-10: 19:30

beautiful shots, perfect lighting!!! urmysunshine · 2009-09-10: 19:50

Wonderful and beautiful set!! All are fantastic, especially @1, 3 and 15:)) nssco50 · 2009-09-10: 22:49

They really are cute. That would be the kind of place I'd keep going back to. Saipanhohhot · 2009-09-10: 23:09

Well done Helen. You already know how I feel about these characters. Presumably some of these shots will feature on your 2010 calendar. Kay · 2009-09-11: 02:47

Excellent shots! I definitely want to go back and do the lemur walk through again. Sharon · 2009-09-11: 02:52

nice set! ????? · 2009-09-11: 03:29

Very good shots. And very funny animals :) Welldigger · 2009-09-11: 03:54

Oh, it is an amazing set!! I love #1, #10 and #16!! All shots are wonderful! Najeli · 2009-09-11: 06:25

Both very appealing animals. Obviously your powers of observation of these creatures were right on....you came up with some awesome shots! lookagain · 2009-09-11: 08:01

perfect shots. love all of them, especially the close up shots with beautiful bokeh miltonjacob · 2009-09-11: 08:19

Amazing series..I share the love of meers and you have captued them so well. This place looks outstanding and i will add it to my list of places to go. cariad · 2009-09-11: 15:53

Well done Helen, perfecht shot. Thanks for sharing.) boszorka65 · 2009-09-12: 01:11

Wow those little guys are so cool and you captured some funny shots, fantastic captures mystic1 · 2009-09-12: 14:54

Fabulous! I favorited #7. ????? · 2009-09-13: 14:49

Tagged: meerkat animal lemur