Little rascals: Jayne Collier reared two orphan meerkats in her home in DevonAndrew and Jayne Collier opened Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park on their Devon farm to boost the family income.
Their enclosures now house more than 24 animal species - from wallabies to kunekune pigs. But the couple, who have two children, got more than they bargained for when they took on two orphan meerkats in their 19th-century farmhouse last winter.
Here, Jayne shares her diary of the family's first year with their hairy house guests.
26TH FEBRUARY 2009
I still can't believe what happened on my morning rounds today. The meerkats, Mango and Tango, named by my children, are expecting their second litter, but when I got to their enclosure I spotted three tiny bodies outside the hut.
The kits, or babies, must have been born overnight and been rejected. I put them in my jumper pocket and rushed back to the house. They were tiny - about as big as my thumb - and freezing cold.
They are both male, and looked a little bit like baby rabbits - naked except for a layer of very fine hair. I needed to warm them up fast, so I wrapped them in a tea towel and put them on the top of the Aga. Sadly, one died, but the other two are going strong.
Their parents definitely won't take them back now because my scent is on them, so we'll just have to keep them in the house. I can't help wondering what I'm letting myself in for...
5TH MARCH
This is more tiring than caring for a newborn baby. I'm feeding the kits every two hours. Thankfully, because their stomachs are so small, the feeds are mercifully quick - just a few squirts and I can creep back to bed. But it's tiring nevertheless. We are using formula milk designed for kittens and they take it from the tiniest syringe the vet had.
Having run this farm for 20 years, Andrew and I have some experience of hand-rearing animals, but nothing this exotic.
Our friends run Exmoor Zoo, so we asked them for advice and the vets have been fantastic, but a lot of it is just going on instinct. For instance, I couldn't think what to put them in to keep them warm, and then I had a flash of inspiration and tried a fingerless glove. It's perfect. To start with they were nestled in the hand part and then they wriggled into the fingers.
15TH MARCH
The kits are finally sleeping through the night. What a relief! The past couple of weeks have been hard work, but it's worth it to see the pair thriving. They have started being incredibly vocal. They squeal all the time and the only time we have any peace and quiet is when they go to sleep in their box at night.
Maternal instinct: When they were born, Jayne wrapped the rejected meerkats in a tea towel and put them on the top of the Aga to keep them warm13TH APRIL
Our two Labradors, Amber and Willow, are being so patient with the new house guests.
They were a bit wary at first, because the kits would come up and nip them but, now they've all got used to each other, the dogs sit there and let the pair scamper over them.
Tarka, our cat, even rolls around with them on the floor. But I would never leave them unsupervised. The meerkats are still wild animals and you can never entirely predict what they are going to do next. They are always on the go and they can't even share a food bowl without fighting.
26TH APRIL
My children - Lily, 13, and Jake, 11 - have named them Wren and Rascal. These two are fast becoming part of the family. They are not house-trained, but they tend to go to the loo in a corner of their bed area, so it's less messy than having puppies.
30TH MAY
The most wonderful thing happened today - the kits followed me when I left the room. I turned round, and there they were, trooping behind me with their tails up in the air. It's so lovely to know that they trust me.
Now I can't go anywhere without them following me. They sit on my shoulder and run all over me when I'm watching TV. At night, we keep them in a box with a wire lid, and they cuddle up together to keep warm. But, in the day, they are free to wander around the house.
Inquisitive: Wren and Rascal would follow Jayne around the house but became too destructive to stay indoors 3RD AUGUST
I've started letting Wren and Rascal outside on to the decking so that they can get used to the outdoors. They dig in the flowerbeds while I watch them. It's really sweet to see and, I must admit, I feel quite maternal towards them.
My dad adores them. He is always telling me how proud he is that we have managed to rear such tiny creatures. The kits are now about half their adult size, but they are still very small and would easily fit inside a shoebox.
20TH SEPTEMBER
Much as I love having Wren and Rascal in the house, they are just becoming too destructive. Today, we lost them in the bathroom for a while. One of the children was having a shower, so they'd followed us up there and then they just disappeared.
There's this tiny gap in the corner of the tongue-and-groove panelling that they'd managed to squeeze into. We could hear them but we couldn't get to them, so we had to take all the panels off. Downstairs, they love digging out the grouting of the flagstone floor and they've fluffed up a corner of the new carpet with their constant scratching. We've just splashed out on a new sofa and I don't want them spoiling that, too.
3RD OCTOBER
I've just been watching Rascal and Wren playing cricket with Jake in the garden. They love running after the ball. The children are getting quite blasé about having such unusual pets, but when their school friends come over, they can't believe it.
It's surreal sometimes, when we are all sitting there watching TV with a couple of meerkats in the room. It's funny to watch them. They'll be up to their usual tricks, but if there's a loud bang on the TV, they suddenly stand bolt upright on their back legs.
28TH NOVEMBER
Rascal and Wren now have an outdoor enclosure, but we are still bringing them in at night. We go to collect them once the park is closed, and they trot behind us for the fiveminute walk back to the house. It's such a sight.
Sometimes, I turn round and I have a whole entourage - the cat, the dogs and the meerkats - behind me. I feel like Doctor Dolittle! In the mornings we do the same thing and, when we get to their pen, I lift them in and they run off to dig and scratch about.
They eat a really varied diet now. We started them on mashed-up cat food, but now we add chopped grapes, apple, celery and carrots. They love sardines, too, but their absolute favourite is mealworms.
CHRISTMAS 2009
Tempting though it is to bring the meerkats indoors, they are now happily ensconced in their outside pen. I keep imagining what a mess they would make of the Christmas tree if they were in the house with us.
They would be mesmerised by all the sparkly lights. It has been a fascinating year, watching the pair grow and develop. We have learnt so much - not just from all the books we have read but also from first-hand experience.
Visitors to the park are now familiar with meerkats because of the TV ad for comparethemeerkat.com, but it worries me that people might think they make great pets.
As we've learnt, they can be very loyal to the humans who care for them, but they can never be domesticated - nor should they be.
Growing up: Once a female is introduced, Wren and Rascal won't be so tame anymore, and the time will come for the Colliers to leave them to it 24TH FEBRUARY
I can't believe Wren and Rascal's first birthday is coming up. The children and I are planning a little celebration for them with a birthday tea of mealworms, meat and fruit.
It's so quiet in the house without them, but they love their new home. The time will soon come when we need to find them a mate. The way it works, we would need to introduce one female and the more dominant of the two - I suspect it will be Wren - will mate and the other will be the look-out.
I hope there is no fighting, but I have to leave them to sort it out and not interfere, which will be very hard.
It's only now that they've gone that I realise how much part of our home life they had become. It's certainly far quieter without the constant squealing. But I miss them following me about everywhere.
Sometimes, if the park is quiet, I let them out of their pen so they can follow me. I just love it when they scamper ahead and then run back to be at my side.
1st MARCH
My father and Jake are starting work on a new enclosure for the babies. It's going to have a walled pen, but no roof, so that visitors can look in - and there will be lots of tunnels running underground, as well as an area of sand and woodchip so that they can scratch and dig.
Wren and Rascal are so inquisitive. As soon as they see a new piece of piping, they run straight through it at high speed. Other animals would be more cautious and wait to work out what this new object is, but meerkats never wait for anything. They just charge on in.
It's great to see them enjoying their new habitat. My favourite part of the day is going into their pen and having a play with them. They are always so pleased to see me and come running straight over.
The search for a mate continues, but Wren and Rascal are still very young so we have plenty of time. I'm glad about that. Once we introduce a female, they won't be so tame anymore, and the time will come for us to back off and leave them to it.
While it will be wonderful to see them bring up their own kits, I will miss the close relationship we have with them - but I guess I'll have to be content to be a proud granny from a distance.
Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park in Axminster, Devon, is open every day, except Monday, from 10am to 5pm. www.axevalleypark.co.uk
source: dailymail
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