We had the most terrific bunch of backpackers in the Gallery yesterday. They were all taking a holiday break from their jobs working towards their visas to continue their Australian adventures. Before boarding the bus for the Big Smoke, two of them, Tamina and Sherin lingered in the Gallery for quite some time. After introducing them to my Mob of Meerkats (actual collective noun), with much laughter, I realised I had never actually told the tale of how Heavenly Beverley became the baby Meerkat centre of the universe for two days back in September 2018...
One spring day just over six years ago, a couple of bright sparks went to the Perth Zoo for an outing. One of them, obviously an intellectual giant, apparently "fell in love" with a month old Meerkitten, scooped it out of the enclosure and popped him into a cooler bag. After stopping for a meal at a fast food outlet, our heroes hot-footed it to that well-known Meerkat sanctuary of Beverley, 130 kilometres east of Perth. Once back in the home of a third person, they believed the Meerkitten would be an excellent addition to the four dogs and a cat already living at the residence.
Two days later, the gig was up. Keeping a secret is rather difficult in Beverley. Local eyes and ears were instrumental in the discovery of a very large cannabis operation south of Beverley townsite, due to concern for animals on the property and a procession of water trucks coming and going. The Beverley Facebook page is an encyclopaedia of useful information, as well as locating lost pets, found pets and wandering pets. Having an unusual animal like a Meerkitten was never going to go unnoticed.
Six police officers were involved in an International Rescue-style operation to free the Perth Zoo Meerkitten. They proudly posed in a photograph on the WA Police Facebook page after the successful mission. Our Meerkitten was safely returned to the Meerkat Mummy and the rest of the Mob.
One aspect of this story did tickle my way-out sense of humour. The Meerkitten was supposedly being checked on an extremely frequent basis as he was to be unveiled in a ceremony the following day. There was apparently only a tiny window of non-supervision when the Meerkitten was nicked. Oops...
This was not the first time that there had been a fleeting second of lapsed attention at the Perth Zoo. Back in 2011, two endangered Madagascan radiated tortoises were pinched. One was left at a police station and the other discovered in a house being raided on another matter. This retrieval, which occurred just after our Meerkitten saga, probably left management with rather red faces. And perhaps a desire to upgrade some security measures.
I do have some sympathy. Most of Perth Zoo's visitors would not dream of stealing one of the living exhibits. Spotting opportunistic dickheads is not the easiest of tasks. However, dear readers, be assured that occurrences like this will never fly beneath the radar of Heavenly Beverley's keen eyed residents...
And that's the end of the story.
PS This fantastic folly is why Beverley should be celebrated as the Wheatbelt Home of the Meerkats!
No comments:
Post a Comment