A Glasgow perspective: animal farm

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Bears of Cairnhill Woods

The bears of Cairnhill Woods have made an appearance on this blog before. We paid them another visit during lockdown – and we found some of their friends! Bearsden is a town just outside Glasgow, so their bears, below, are punning. The fishing bear is in a garden about 15 minutes walk from us. I don’t think he’ll be catching much.

Bearsden bears
West End bear

Many children put their teddy bears in windows to create a Bear Hunt for others – those have been well documented in my Glasgow Gallivanting posts throughout the pandemic period. But bears weren’t the only animals we spotted as our repeated walks so close to home gave us a new perspective on our local area by increasing our powers of observation. Alternatively, you could say, it unleashed our inner nosiness – but then, many people were positively inviting us to look into their gardens and windows! Here’s a (large) selection of what we found.

Small mammals

You might spot a couple of inadvertent selfies here. I offer no comment on the aesthetics of these displays.

Cats
Fox
Tyre cat
NHS mice
Dogs
Dog
Dog

Large mammals

A preponderance of lions! The prancing stag is outside a restaurant called – you’ve guessed it – the Prancing Stag. The sculpture shows cartoon character Lobey Dosser, Sheriff of Calton Creek, with the villainous Rank Bajin, riding Lobey’s two-legged horse, Elfie. It’s a Glaswegian thing, but Wikipedia explains it if you really want to know! Finally, you might wonder about the Highland cattle, given that these are all lockdown walks straight from our house – they (13 in all) live in Dawsholm Park which is just over a mile away.

Lobey Dosser
Prancing stag
House lion
House lion
House lion
House lion
Garden lion
Chinese lions
Chinese lion
Highland cow
Highland cattle

Birdlife

The real life birds, apart from the swans, are thanks to John. All images are taken within walking distance, except for the heron and the farm sign which were from after regulations relaxed and we could drive to the countryside to take exercise (although we do have herons on the river and the canal near us – they just don’t pose so nicely very often though).

Mosaic owl
Owl
Owl in June
Cockerel
Parrots
Captive eagle?
Eagle
Farm pheasant
Chooky birdies, Garnethill
Rainy day swans
Gull in flight
Gull in flight
Heron

Mythical creatures

Can I count these as animals? Yes. Yes, I can. Why not?

Mythical creature
Mythical creature
Mythical creature
Mythical creature
Mythical creature
Mythical creature
Mythical creature

Finally, today’s title inspiration is Animal Farm by the Kinks. This world is big and wild and half insane is a great first line and very appropriate today for so many reasons. I have the cats and dogs promised in the lyrics, but sadly not the pigs or goats. Must try harder next time.

Linked to Becky’s SquarePerspectives Challenge.

Scotland, UK , ,

52 Comments »

  1. Those bears are impossibly cute. I saw a (real live) owl yesterday while walking on the trails near my home. Thanks for the walk down memory lane provided by the Kinks.

    Jude

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  8. I’m glad you went with the Kinks rather than Shirley Temple — just thinking about Animal Crackers has me fighting the earworm!
    A great collection of shots Anabel; the Bearsden bears are really quite lovely.

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  14. This post immediately made me smile. You knew that Richard and I have been wanting to see a bear. Two more walks for us to go. Unless we see one on the trail tomorrow, your featured bears will have to do. They are beautiful!

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  17. Hi Anabel – great selection of photos an animals in their place … well perhaps not some … but most are quite delightful – and thanks for the Kinks link and their animal farm. The wood bears do look really good – oh to be so talented … not nosy – just keeping yourselves occupied in these quiet pandemic times. All the best – Hilary

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  18. I had no idea! There’s so much to see in your area, and such diversity. The gardens with the gnomes etc reminds me of a little garden we used to walk past when, as a young child, I visited my aunt. I loved all the little things in it – I’m not sure I love them quite so much now, as an adult. 😀

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  19. And here I was thinking you were referencing George Orwell when all the time it was The Kinks. Loved the photos of the bear carvings in the woods, what a great idea. One of my friends has had an old apple tree cut down and an owl with outspread wings carved from the top bit. It looks quite spectacular in her garden and it gave a local carver some much needed work.

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    • It is a bit of a zoo! I had forgotten about this song – thank goodness for sites that tell you songs with specific words in the title otherwise I’d have had to go with Animal Crackers. That’s a better title, but Shirley Temple might not have been to everyone’s taste!

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  21. I didn’t know about putting bears in windows for a bear hunt. I must see whether my niece knows, and see if I can join in!

    Lovely post, as always, Anabel 🙂

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