Clark's Little Ark Sanquhar

10/08/2024

As you may have read in our previous post, there is now another chapter to the story 😊
Thankfully two more of the guinea pigs were caught thanks to Levi and everyone who made it possible .
We are very grateful for donations of all kinds and offers of help we have received towards the care of the guinea pigs. We are trying to sort out accommodation for them as there is a strong possibility more wee ones could follow as they have obviously all been together for a time.
We will update the page with any news .

A herd of guinea pigs were found dumped at the side of the road in Mennock...

08/08/2024

Meanwhile, Seamus was so desperate to see what was going on with the guinea pigs he tried to open the window!
But Billy gave a loud moo and told him to stop!

08/08/2024

This is the one that was caught later last night.Managed to give him a wee bit of a brush too.

08/08/2024

Guinea pigs are doing ok and eating well 😊
They have been treated for fleas and had a bit of a tidy up but not too much handling while they settle in.
People are still trying to locate and catch the other three. Fingers crossed there’s still hope for them too.

07/08/2024

I got a phone call tonight from a lady who was walking her dog in Mennock Pass and came across 6 guinea pigs that had been dumped at the side of the road 😢Why do folk do that? 😡😡
There were 4 adults guinea pigs and two babies all running loose .Although we have more than enough guinea pigs at the Ark and weren’t taking any more , we had to try and get to these ones to safety before something else got to them.
Thanks to the boys for running me up.
It looked like an impossible task trying to catch any of them amongst the bracken, brambles and grass not to mention the midges . But luckily Jamie
and Julie managed to catch one each.Poor things were soaking and matted but we’ve got them safe at the Ark and will let them settle overnight and get them properly checked tomorrow.
Julie was going to try and catch more later on after they had calmed down a bit.
Poor wee things don’t deserve to be treated like that.

Just as I was going to post this Julie phoned to say she’d caught another one 😊

07/08/2024

Wishing Troy, Abbi, Jill, Lucy, Dana, Lexi, Hope, Riley and Liam all the best for their big week 🎉🎉

03/08/2024

Thanks to our visitors for the smiles and photos 😊
This morning we asked Lucas if he would like to hold a guinea pig. He said he did so we started walking up the path to the small animal houses.
Lucas stopped outside Percy pigs house and said “ Will he not be heavy?”
He was obviously up for trying to hold Percy and not the least fazed by the thought 😊😊
In fact I think he was disappointed at the size of Valerie!
A few weeks ago Jessie the hen appeared to have a broken leg, we don’t know what happened but she was bandaged up with a small splint and managed to hop about as normal with her friends.We took the bandage off the other day and she seems to have healed well which is great news.
We also have Phoebe ( named after the dog of the man who found her ) the hen recuperating in a safe stable.
She was found at the side of the road and was very swollen.She’s been bathed in Epsom salts and seems to be improving slowly. She is kept on her own just now as the others were picking on her but hopefully she can join them again soon.
Sparticus the baby sparrow was brought to us too, as Lesley who found him was worried her cat would get him.Sadly he didn’t survive but he had a nice, cosy safe bed while he was with us.

03/08/2024

Is anyone missing this wee girl?
Volunteers Kim, Storm, Steven, Ryan and PJ were cleaning and tidying the play area on Wednesday and they found her sitting on the fence.
Although she was quite happy watching the donkeys, she didn’t have a jacket and the forecast was rain! So they brought her down to the portacabin where she can be collected.

02/08/2024

Thanks to the animals, visitors and helpers for helping to bring our smiles back 😊😊
Thanks also to everyone for their support over the last few weeks.

27/07/2024

** Update, donations are still coming in so I will just update the total instead of separate posts.Thanks again everyone.**

Alison and her family would like to thank everyone for the cards,flowers, messages and support that they have received following the recent passing of Ian.
Thanks also to Bill Hoggins (Humanist) for a lovely service and Alex Muir Funeral Directors and his team for professional and caring arrangements during this difficult time.
A total of £800 has been donated to Clark’s Little Ark in remembrance of Ian.
Many thanks to all who donated.

Also a big thank you to Nik, Jennifer and the other volunteers that have looked after all the animals during the last few weeks.

19/07/2024

Those who wish to make a donation can do so via the link below.

www.clarkslittleark.co.uk

Thank you.

08/07/2024

A huge thank you to Julie Kirkpatrick for giving us £160 from her recent 50th birthday celebrations.
A great night with singer Marc James and so kind of Julie to think of Clark’s little Ark.
Julie and Ivor brought the money up this morning and Percy loved Ivor’s t-shirt too 🐖
Thanks again Julie.

06/07/2024

Usually by this time of the year there is dry dust everywhere. But this year the mud has never really gone away. Mud under foot isn’t good for the animals or the human volunteers and visitors.
Recently the Friends of Clark’s Little Ark submitted a grant application to Whiteside Hill Wind Farm Community Trust to purchase some Mudcontrol mats and were very pleased to be awarded £1320 to purchase mats.
Theses mats will make a huge difference to the welfare of the animals as well as making it safer and easier for those who care for them.
Some of our older fencing needed upgraded, especially with Billy bullock growing so big and strong! We also
hoped to fence the back field so that we have two paddocks which we can rest/swap.Thanks to a grant of £1500 from Barfil Charitable Trust this work can now be carried out. Thanks to Mcanespie, Ian, Fencing Contractor for upgrading and heightening the fences so that we could move Billy and Seamus. Ian is coming back to do the rest but the high fence was a priority.
A big thank you to Hugh Hamilton ( Eilidh Currie)for shearing, dosing and checking all the sheep today. Fudge is transformed after his first “ hair cut” 😊
Thanks also to Nisa Local for £38.44 from the collecting tin and Brown Brothers canteen for £11.95 from their collection tin.
As always thanks to everyone who donates and helps in so many ways 😊

04/07/2024

The donkeys thoughts on today’s weather.

04/07/2024

Despite the weather we have had lots of visitors from near and far. Jessica is a teacher in Canada and has taken one of our books to put in the school library.
It’s called A Winter’s Tale from Clark’s Little Ark and some days it feels like winter has never left us!
One of our wee visitors Grace had made a tick list with pictures of different animals.Grace ticked off the animals that she saw at the Ark and we were only three short of all the animals on her list.
We didn’t have a Highland cow, llama/alpaca or a blue faced Leicester sheep!
You never know Grace, maybe the next time you visit…
Percy had a lovely visit from his Sanquhar nursery friends on his 10th birthday and Miss Sharpe remembered holding Percy when he first arrived at the Ark . We can’t think why she didn’t get an up to date photo holding him!
Ant and Dec have been getting up to mischief. With the awful weather they are still inside at night and usually trot out to the paddocks in the morning.But recently they have played hide and seek and tig with the humans between their stable and the paddocks.
We had to change their paddock too as they managed to get onto the big stable roof. To think we brought them in from the high fenced paddock because they wouldn’t go in the shelter and were standing in the rain crying.
So they’ve had two verbal warnings that they will go back there despite the rain if they don’t behave!
Lindsay and Winston the ducks have also caused problems.
Lindsay disappeared and we couldn’t find her anywhere. Then we noticed her underneath the toilet building. She came out for food but then showed Winston what to do and they both went under and wouldn’t come out for ages! When they eventually came out we managed to block all the spaces so hopefully no more mischief from them.
Stuart the farrier was trimming the donkeys feet on Tuesday and Jack the donkey wanted to help. He tried to put Paddy’s head collar on but it was the wrong one, then he wanted to hold the rope while Paddy got his feet trimmed.
But he got tired and fell asleep instead!
Jeff the sheep and Paddy were fascinated watching Stuart trimming Dotty’s feet.
The sheep are due to be sheared but being too warm certainly isn’t a problem for them this year.
We might need to borrow their woolly coats when they come off 🥶

01/07/2024

Sanquhar Nursery came up to help Percy the pig celebrate his 10th birthday today 🥳🎉 🐷.
They brought lots of birthday treats for Percy. Melon , apples and bananas all cut up for him.
Then the highlight of his day was when the children sang Happy Birthday to him.
Thank you to all the pupils and staff for making his day special and we hope you all enjoy your summer holidays 😊

More photos and news to follow but here they are singing Happy Birthday .

29/06/2024

28/06/2024

Up above the P-Ark we have a picnic area with lovely views of the countryside that we are so lucky to be surrounded by.
Recently some of the older benches became broken and unsafe.
Thanks to volunteers Steven, Kim, Ryan and Storm for breaking up the old bench and moving it away. They also painted the picnic benches and tidied up all the play area 😊
We were then very fortunate to get another picnic bench from Mary and Barry from Sanquhar Post Office ( the oldest working post office in the world and definitely worth a visit.)
Hopefully the weather will improve soon too because the new bench has a parasol 🌞
We’ve had lots of visitors including a group from Wallace Hall E.L.F and there’s a lovely video of everyone having fun in Sanquhar.
We also had a visit from some of our friends from Happy Hooves Sanquhar C.I.C they stopped by when they were out a trek last weekend. Our wee ponies are too small to sit on but Happy Hooves have various sized ponies and horses. They also provide opportunities for R.D.A. - Riding for the Disabled Association
as well as
E.F.L - Equine Facilitated Learning.

The food parcels are going well but could we please ask that people just take what they need so there is enough for everyone.If a family needs more than what’s available please contact us and we will try and sort something out.
Also please don’t take items out the bags because this means someone else will get a bag with items missing.
Last request please put the lid back on the bins after you take a parcel.
Oh one more thing! The eggs and kindling are separate from the food parcels and donations received from them go towards feeding the animals.
Thank you 😊

Well the way the wind is at the moment I don’t think the parasol will be needed.
But if you have a kite…

27/06/2024

We found an old Riding of the Marches photo that shows the entrance to Clark’s Little Ark many years ago. You can clearly see the railway track that used to take the clay from the quarry to the brickworks which was such a busy industry in its day.
It made us think of the other changes over the last twelve and a half years.
December 2012 and the first fence and gate was put up along the road side and down the track.
You couldn’t see the burn or any of the track as it was so overgrown.
No shelters, fences or stables, no paths.
No name just a place at the old brickworks.
No plans, except to be a home to 3 donkeys and 3 miniature Shetland ponies.
Twelve and a half years on and thanks to so many people Clark’s Little Ark is on the map and has evolved so much.
Clark’s memory lives on and I’m sure he would love all the smiles😊 ❤️
Hopefully it has given and will continue to give others many happy memories over the years too.
Thanks so much to everyone who has helped make it what it is today.
It wouldn’t be here without you all.

27/06/2024

Another poorly hedgehog found wandering during the day ( never a good sign) in Kelloholm this morning.
Being out during the day means there’s something wrong and Suzie was brought down to Clark’s Little Ark.
She was shaking badly and advice from South of Scotland Wildlife Hospital was to keep her warm and get help as she was severely dehydrated and needed to get to the hospital for emergency Subcutaneous Fluid injections as soon as possible
A phone call to Scottish SPCA and they came up quickly and took Suzie straight to hospital.
Thanks to all involved who helped her and hopefully saved her life.

26/06/2024

We had a lovely visit from our friends last week 😊😊

21/06/2024

😊

21/06/2024

Nice to have wee friends at home too 😊

13/06/2024

Brilliant news today 😊
Remember back in April a poorly, weak wee hedgehog ( Bob) was found during the day in a neighbours garden?
This morning we had a phone call from the Scottish SPCA officer that examined Bob and took him to the South of Scotland Wildlife Hospital where he received expert care and treatment.
Bob was now fit and well enough to be released back into the wild and was on his way back to Sanquhar.
Thanks to everyone who looked after Bob,especially staff at the hospital for the great care and treatment they gave him and the SSPCA for examining and transporting him.
It’s lovely to have a happy ending and for Bob to be back in his home territory, safe and well 😊😊

12/06/2024

If you are looking for a night out and/or a day out 😊
We are grateful to both for supporting Clark’s Little Ark

10/06/2024

Well Ant and Dec lasted 24 hours in their new place.
Instead of going into the shelter, the poor boys were hysterically jumping up at the d**e 😢
They are back in their cosy winter stable during the day in June, due to hailstones!
Hard to believe it’s midsummer next week 😩

09/06/2024

Remember we were keeping Wee Eck away from the big hay feeder after he got his head stuck?
Well we did - but Fudge decided to try getting hay from the side of his hay rack in the stable and yes he managed to get stuck too.
A big thank you to Allan Milligan for coming to the rescue with his scissor jack ( despite me asking him if he had a spider jack 🙈)Nik was saying Allan came in his van to help Winston a while ago when he hurt his back too.
So we think Allan should get “Animal Rescue” put on his van!
Seriously though Fudge is now having his hay on the floor and thanks again to Allan for his help.
Then the hens in the back field got through a space in heras fencing this morning.They were all having a great time in the field but if they started to wander they wouldn’t be safe. So it was like the pied piper donkeys, sheep and hens following me across the field! I would like to think it was because they liked me but it was really because I had buckets.
We got the hens back in -except Jessie! Nik managed to catch her but she ran up onto Nik’s shoulder and then jumped on to Jeff the sheep and tried to use him as get away transport.Luckily Jeff was more interested in the buckets and didn’t move.
Hens secured in, sheep safe from any more head traps, everyone fed and watered.
The next task was to try and move Ant and Dec to the goat park.
They’ve still been going into their stable at night. But they are big boys so we decided it was time for them to have a sleep over outside. They seemed happy enough but shouted to come in at tea time.
Hopefully they’ll settle down and enjoy more freedom over night.They have a shelter and a play park to keep them happy.
Thanks to all our visitors for making us smile after an eventful day 😊

07/06/2024

On a brighter note we have had some good news today 😊
As many of you know Nicola Burns ( Nik to us) is an amazing volunteer at Clark’s Little Ark and we don’t know what we would do without her.
When Nik isn’t at the Ark she works at Browns Food Group Kelloholm. Nik has worked there doing constant back shift for the last 20 years and recently she wrote to the company asking if they could give a donation to Clark’s Little Ark.
And we are very grateful to Browns Food Group for donating £250 which will be a huge help towards the feeding and care of the animals.
We are also very grateful to Nik for making the donation possible and for all her hard work at the Ark. 😊