The Poo Museum

This afternoon we went on an expedition to the 'Poo Museum' located within the Isle of Wight Zoo at Yaverland. Once we had seen it advertised, it would have been rude not to go.

The zoo is located in an old fort on Yaverland seafront, a bit further along from the Dinosaur Museum.  If you go, and are expecting an experience similar to London Zoo or Marwell Zoo, then you will be disappointed, as this is a small zoo in a slightly dilapidated seaside town. However, it does have quite a lot of animals, all well cared for, and staff who know what they are talking about and who give tours.  Back to the poo....

The Poo Museum was located inside the walls of the fort, and was put together by Ecclestone George, a collective of local artists I think; there were various lavatories located around the walls containing information leaflets, and quite a few poo samples which had been prepared and contained within spheres of clear plastic (I think!). Samples included rat poo, skunk poo, cat poo in a shoe, dinosaur poo and human baby poo. Each sphere rested atop a drainpipe, and was connected to other pipes. At the far end was a 'Poo Tree' with small black plastic bags among its branches, as this seems to be a common sight in the countryside these days.  Certainly an interesting idea and display all round, and the children and adults in there seemed to be enjoying it. I did, certainly.

We toured the zoo as we had paid to get in (discount for Island residents with proof of address), and admired the many lemurs, spider monkeys, giant rabbits, and goats before getting to the stars of the show; these were the big cats. The zoo is noted for rescuing tigers from circuses and we saw four or five beautiful creatures today, including a pure white one. There was also a GORGEOUS jaguar (my favourite big cat), with stunning markings. We couldn't get close to the lions as their enclosure was roped off - I think they were being given space to get to know each other. However, we could see a large male lion in the distance.

After the zoo we went for a drive, via Shanklin and Ventnor, and ended up having a blat up the military road before heading home along the back roads to avoid all the road works, and singing along to Snow Patrol and Beyoncé at the top of our lungs. Along the way, in fact all day, we had played 'Yellow Car No Returns' which I won, much to the teenager's disgust ("I'm not playing any more anyway Mum"), with a final score of 23 - 17. Always a good game.

Simi the new Tiger