Autumn/Winter 2024 Prize Quiz: Winner and Answers

An armadillo, the answer to clue 1. Photo: Rich Anderson, Flickr

Thank you so much to everyone who sent their answers to our Mammals of the World quiz. We really appreciate your support and welcome the money sent to us for the entrance fee.

We received a total of 147 entries, of which 56 were all correct. The winner selected in a random draw is Miss J E Milne, of Bude. Congratulations!

The answers to the clues are below.

1. Equip a herb with a weapon-o! (9) ARMADILLO

2. Sailor’s reply to an officer’s order! (3-3). AYE-AYE

3. Forbid taking in what a timid person never says to a goose. (6). BABOON

4. Brass ensemble with water bird – I slip in between them. (9). BANDICOOT

5. Prohibit high-tension starts for organised local exhibitions. (4, 4). BANK VOLE

6. A mix-up lets Barry be a pa! (7, 3). BARBARY APE

7. If you see this one in the wild, it will be a very exciting experience. (6). BEAVER

8. I heard him say something like “Cheerio, youngster!” (5). BISON

9. Courage, without any selenium, for the son of the King of France, translated. (10, 7). BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN

10. In Downing Street, did Gordon Brown bear responsibility for the Credit Crunch in 2007/8? (5, 4). BROWN BEAR

11. BR won her a makeover. (5, 4). BROWN HARE

12. Describes two US presidents in the first year of their lives. (4, 4). BUSH BABY

13. Arrived and departed shortly after, having got the hump. (5). CAMEL

14. Animal doctor chases a number of Dalmatians. (5). CIVET

15. Could this be Basil Brush, arriving at Heathrow airport? (6, 3). FLYING FOX

16. Goliath, say, with a police car. (5, 5). GIANT PANDA

17. Famous for the decline and fall of an empire. (6). GIBBON

18. British armed service, led by American soldier, gets college training shortly. (7). GIRAFFE

19. Goes round every year, selling endive and lettuce, primarily. (4, 4). GREY SEAL

20. This one stuttered “Mother, save us!”. (7, 5). HARVEST MOUSE

21. I heard “Hello, Mrs Sharples.”! (5). HYENA

22. Type of wild dog for two boys, John and Alan. (6). JACKAL

23. One of Joey’s parents? (8). KANGAROO

24. The wall in Paris. (5). LEMUR

25. You can find this one in all Amazonian forest areas. (5). LLAMA

26. Sounds like a place to play golf at the seaside. (4). LYNX

27. Chap with a shirt. (7). MANATEE

28. Mare, most skittish! (8). MARMOSET

29. Setter swallowed writing fluid and a cry of distress was heard. (5, 5). MINKE WHALE

30. Non-governmental organisation taken in by 31. (8). MONGOOSE

31. Small rodent loses its uniform; Oscar steps in to sort it. (5). MOOSE

32. Searching in the area, there wasn’t a café to be found; so she said “OK, a picnic it is then!” (5). OKAPI

33. These upset Goran’s aunt. (10). ORANGUTANS

34. This one is pro-arable culture. (5, 4). POLAR BEAR

35. Popular reptile loses two times; papas step in and see to that. (8). PORPOISE

36. 37, once Katharina has gone, rides an ancient Greek river horse. (5, 12). PYGMY HIPPOPOTAMUS

37. One track up Snowdon, with setter’s, or rather Shakespeare’s, Katharina. (5, 5). PYGMY SHREW

38. Motoring services company – company working for a masked mammal. (7). RACCOON

39. Did I hear you say “It’s wet outside, my love.”? (8). REINDEER

40. I heard Charlie remark that the weather had “ ‘eated up”. (3, 5). SEA OTTER

41. One of seven capital vices. (5). SLOTH

42. Seasonal publication, nothing left out – about a rugby player? (9). SPRINGBOK

43. 17th century Dutch explorer, together with a Scot, encountered Satan! (9, 5). TASMANIAN DEVIL

44. Piece of sporting equipment belonging to a hater of garlic! (7, 3). VAMPIRE BAT

45. This one can be found in Heswall, a by-product of 19th century introductions. (7). WALLABY

46. One that wanted seven maids with seven mops to clear away the sand. (6). WALRUS

47. Feature of Oliver Cromwell’s face had others grinning initially. (7). WARTHOG

48. Support for a painter’s use after whiskey. (6). WEASEL

49. Beware of this one – it’d claw you if you annoyed it! (4, 3). WILD CAT

50. Author of “Importance of being Earnest” on Honeymaker Street. (10). WILDEBEEST

Here are some notes on the ones that seemed to cause the most difficulty:

3. BABOON – According to the saying, a timid person ‘wouldn’t say “Boo!” to a goose’.

5. BANK VOLE – Prohibit = Ban; High tension = kV (kilovolts); OLE are the first letters of “organised local exhibitions”.

7. BEAVER – Hidden in the clue: “it will BE A VERy …”

9. BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN – We couldn’t allow “Bottlenosed” because it is not the correct name, and it doesn’t match the clue or the letter count.

11. BROWN HARE – An anagram.

14. CIVET – 101 is a number of dalmatians from the Disney film.  That is CI in Roman numerals. Vet is an animal doctor.

20. HARVEST MOUSE – Some entries did not spot the anagram here.  We liked “GRIZZLY BEARS” but couldn’t allow it.

25. LLAMA – Another hidden answer in this clue “in aLL AMAzonian …”

27. MANATEE – We couldn’t allow Mandrill because it has 8 letters, not 7.

29. MINKE WHALE – This was an answer that many people spelt incorrectly as Minky Whale.

33. ORANGUTANS – The clue, and the letter count, require a plural answer here so we didn’t accept ORANGUTAN.

35. PORPOISE – The popular reptile is TORTOISE; replace the “t”s with “p”s.

36. PYGMY HIPPOPOTAMUS – We were surprised at how many different ways there are of misspelling “Hippopotamus”!  And “Pigmy” is incorrect and not in alphabetical order.

37. PYGMY SHREW – The track up Snowdon is known as the Pyg Track.

38. RACCOON – Another answer that was often misspelt.

46. WALRUS – From “The Walrus and the Carpenter” – Lewis Carroll.

We have launched a weather themed quiz, It Blows It Snows. The closing date for entries is 31st July 2025. Download the Spring/Summer 2025 quiz here.

New Ferry Butterfly Park’s 30th Anniversary

2025 will be the 30th anniversary of New Ferry Butterfly Park. Over the next 5 months we will look back at the five years since our 25th anniversary.

In January we begin with what happened in 2020...

2020 wasn’t the year anyone expected. Lockdowns starting in March and restrictions on gatherings meant a strange year for everyone.

On Sunday 3rd May 2020 we should have been welcoming hundreds of visitors to our annual Open Day and celebrating the start of our new season. Luckily the lockdown hadn’t affected the flowers, trees, butterflies, bees, newts and the other creatures that make their home in the Park. The newts may even have been relieved to miss being dipped out of the pond every Sunday afternoon. That year spring was running several weeks early! Out in flower on 2nd May, when they are usually at least 2 weeks later, were hogweed, dog rose and elder. This meant plenty of nectar and pollen for invertebrates.

Dog rose in flower in early May 2020

A hawthorn tree blossoming early in the spring of 2020

Getting outdoors, even for restricted times, was a lifeline for many and the Butterfly Park did eventually open on Sunday afternoons. Around 500 people visited between mid June and mid September. A one-way system and passing places were introduced to help to keep everyone Covid-safe. There was no pond dipping or other hands-on activities but everyone appreciated being able to stroll around and admire the flowers and insects.

2020 should have been a celebration of New Ferry Butterfly Park’s 25th Anniversary but that had to be postponed because of the Covid19 restrictions. In our July blogs we featured lots of articles about the history and development of the Butterfly Park and Cheshire Wildlife Trust filmed a video to mark the 25th Anniversary of the reserve. You can watch the video here.

Also in July, Angela Eagle MP and Alison McGovern MP plus Seacombe Councillor Paul Stuart visited New Ferry Butterfly Park. Charlotte Harris CEO of Cheshire Wildlife Trust was also there to welcome them along with members of New Ferry Butterfly Park committee. It was a sunny day and lots of bees and some butterflies were around. Very appropriate as there was discussion about the Wildlife Trusts ‘Take Action for Insects Campaign’ and the Big Butterfly Count.

Charlotte Harris, Alison McGovern MP, Angela Eage MP and Paul Loughnane
socially distanced while visiting the Butterfly Park

Over the previous 25 years the reserve had become a haven for wildlife thanks to the management plans and hard work of its volunteer community. Its value has been recognised by the Awards it has received. The Green Flag team visited New Ferry Butterfly Park on October 2nd to hand over the Community Green Flag 2020-21. This was the 7th Green Flag our urban nature reserve had been given. While there, the team did some filming and the video (whichincludes the Butterfly Park and Port Sunlight village) can be seen here.

The Green Flag team filming at the Butterfly Park

Flying the Community Green Flag 2020-21

That year, as part of continuing improvements in New Ferry, and to celebrate the Park’s Silver Jubilee, New Ferry Butterfly Park received a £5,000 grant from the Duchy of Lancaster Benevolent Fund (i.e. HM The Queen, Duke of Lancaster) towards the cost of new spectacular butterfly-themed gates. This award was given in recognition of the work the park does for the local community in providing a safe wildlife haven, an education space, a space for outdoor art works, and youth work with groups such as the Princes Trust, Guides and Scouts.

The design of the Silver Jubilee gates for the Butterfly Park

Delivery of the gates to the entrance of the park

The aim of the new gate design was to provide a welcoming feature to the park, giving a flavour of what is beyond the entrance way. At the time a dilapidated understated standard black metal gate with barbed wire was present, which was not very aesthetic, not very welcoming and did not give any indication of the park or what it stands for. The Comma butterfly is a strong recognizable image and it, along with the name clearly stated, would be visible from a distance and on approach to the Butterfly Park.

A finished gate pillar

The completed gates

Paul Loughnane, Secretary of New Ferry Butterfly Park, collated butterfly records for 2020. It had proved to be one of the poorest years ever - apart from Red Admirals. However two new species were recorded at the Butterfly Park, an Essex Skipper and a Purple Hairstreak. So there was a little more diversity in species but a drop in abundance. The numbers may reflect fewer recordings than usual due to Covid-19 but the wet weather in July and August will also have had an effect.

Essex skipper, a new species at the Butterfly Park in 2020

Purple hairstreak, another new entry on the species list

As the year ended. the UK had begun a massive vaccination programme but there were still restrictions in place for Christmas. We could only imagine how 2021 might unfold.