Ovenpaa wrote:When they first built the Penguin enclosure at Dunstable it had a very low wall, great for viewing but still not too close. I took my daughter to see the things when she was very young and had to improvise so she could get a better view. A while later I heard the wall had been raised, not to protect the public, it was to protect the Penguins as they were losing them to school kids who were stuffing them under their coats and taking them home on the coach.
Mate, only when you have been stupid enough to stick your hand (or more sensibly boot toe) down a Magellan's burrow will you realise how unlikely that was.
They are like a set of noisy smelly bolt-croppers!!
Joking aside they are enchanting little creatures and very inquisitive. We had a Gentoo/Magellan (with a sprinkling or arsey rockhoppers) colony nearby in the FIs and they were worth every minute it took to walk there to see them. The chicks were epic.
They do stink but when you crap on your own carpet and eat fish its no surprise.