Yesterday was one of those days where I had the chance to go somewhere with a friend, but with the weather being unpredictable, we had no real plan. I’m never bored and always find something to do, so it didn’t really bother me when she started driving. We came up with an idea that might tick off the ninth challenge on my list of 30.
One of the 30 challenges I set myself was to touch an animal that I’ve never felt before. This mightn’t seem hard, but I’ve touched lots! Since I was small, I’ve been very familiar with horses, donkeys and all the animals you might find on a farm. I’ve touched many different pets and types of birds, even an ostrich, and that was actually in Buncrana! I had a friend in school who kept many strange animals as pets, and he always enjoyed shoing them to me when I visited his house. I’ve been fortunate to have travelled to some interesting places, where I’ve had the chance to touch lots of amazing animals. I rode on a camel in Lanzarotte when I was eight. I petted a kuala bear and a kangaroo, (and got bitten by a baby one) in a big park in Sydney. I rode on an elephant and held a baby tiger in Thailand, and it was there that I also got to hold my favourite animals ever, (after dogs of course!) The first time we went there was just before Christmas. As we walked down the street on Christmas day to go and get dinner, we met a man coming towards us holding a small monkey. I thought my family were joking when they said I could touch it. I held the monkey and got a photograph, and he was so cute! The next time we were there I met one on the beach and fed it some pineapple. If there was a place you could go and spend a day playing with them, I’d be in heaven!
So after touching all those animals, it was going to be hard to find something different. I have heard of a lady in England who went to a sanctuary where the owner let her touch a wolf! That would be terrifying and amazing, but I had to be realistic and try and keep it as local as possible! So I went to
tropical world
in Letterkenny and held two lizards. I’d never been there before. They have lots of birds, reptiles and animals, including marmosets an lemurs, which I wanted to touch but I wasn’t allowed. One Lemur in particular was very noisy and seemed like lots of fun!
In the reptile area I had the chance to hold a bearded dragon, which is a lizard with spikey skin. If you rub your hand towards it’s head, it feels more spikey than if you do it in the opposite direction. The second one I held was a blue tongue skink, which sounds disgusting, but wasn’t at all. It actually felt like it was made from hard plastic, as it’s skin had little bumps on it. They have no teeth, but the claws are quite sharp, so I had to let it lie on my arm on my coat so that it wouldn’t jag me. Both were very still and calm, and really used to being handled. They weren’t slimy like you might expect lizards to be. The girl showing me them was very friendly and was able to tell us lots about them. I have some photographs and two videos, but the birds beside us were so noisy that you couldn’t hear anything else.
Sibyl came with us and behaved very well, although she was very curious. The animals were curious about her too! We are having a quiet day today, although it is her 3rd birthday. We went for a short walk and met a friend for breakfast. She had a chew and chilled out for the afternoon. She seems happy enough, I think as long as she knows that dogs are still, and always will be my favourite animals!
Paws For Thought 
Wow what a cool place. I have never held a monkey but i imagine they are very wriggly. I prefer animals i can feel and are a decent size. I was keen on our guinny pigs for example as i thought they were too small. We used to have snakes and lizzards growing up. I have also held a camillian. It’s fun to feel different types of animals 🙂 i felt a cow a couple of years ago and it felt like a shaved head lol.
Brilliant description of the feel of a cow!! You’re so funny!