We are really busy today finalising the design of our invitation card for our annual Business Partners Summer Party at Lumley Castle Hotel.
Engaging the business community to support us is getting much tougher so we have to get much smarter. Obviously, we have lots of our own ideas but we welcome yours too. Any suggestions?
I work at the Great North Museum: Hancock and for the most part of my job I look after the live animals at the museum. I have worked at the museum for 8 years and I have looked after a wide variety of animals from tarantulas to an American alligator called “Daisy”!
One of my favourite animals at the museum is one that isn’t actually on display at the moment. It’s a green tree python. It isn’t on display because it is still a baby and is too small to go in the tank we have for it. It is supposed to live in the large tank in the Living Planet gallery that is currently home to the Jungle Carpet Python. It’s a huge tank and the baby snake would just hide all the time if we put it in there now.
It’s my favourite animal because it is a very unusual snake. It was very important that we purchased a captive bred tree python as they are endangered in the wild, and wild caught snakes are generally prone to disease. Adult Tree pythons can be bought in this country but there is no guarantee that they are captive bred, and they are quite expensive. We bought ours in August 2008 from a breeder in Middlesbrough. It was tiny, like a little yellow worm with brown flecks. I busied myself making sure its new tank (which I had at my house) was clean and had plenty of places for the little snake to hide. It fed on tiny baby mice – one a week. I wanted to keep the snake at my house so I could keep a close eye on it
Green tree python
These baby snakes come in a range of colours from bright yellow, to brick red. They change colour to the green adult over two years. We think this colour change is to do with camouflage. The adult lays the eggs in undergrowth and when they hatch the baby snakes blend into their surroundings. The young adult snakes make their way into the canopy with their green/yellow colouration which camouflages them against their leafy background.
So I watched the baby snake change colour over the past 2 years, to the now green/ yellow adult colours. The snake now lives behind the scenes at the museum as I am happy with its progress.
This type of snake is tropical and comes from rainforest regions of Indonesia. As a result they need very humid conditions. So I spray the tank and snake everyday. This kind of environment can promote bacteria so it is necessary to clean the tank regularly using a small amount of reptile disinfectant. The snake also needs a lot of heat. I use an infrared heat source from outside of the tank which is maintained at a temperature of about 26- 28 ˚C by a dimmer thermostat. The snake is now eating 2 small mice per week. It is a bit of a tricky snake to feed as it is rare that it will pounce on its food. I generally have to put the mouse next to its nose and apply a small amount of pressure. The snake then opens its mouth to take the mouse.
It is important that the snakes have a perch to hang off. They have very sensitive skin and prefer a perch rather than sitting on the base of the tank like other pythons. Also, these are generally not handling snakes because they are so sensitive, and it is best to let them be for the most part.
There are people who breed Green Tree Pythons with the aim of producing different colour strains. This is a time consuming process considering that you don’t know what colour you will ultimately get as an adult for at least 2 years. The colours vary from bright green to blue and yellow. For more information on how to care for these specialised snakes I recommend you refer to “The More Complete Chondro” by Greg Maxwell and refer to websites such as http://www.greentreepythons.co.uk
Hello and thanks for looking at my blog. In these posts I’ll be telling you about how we manage TWAM’s collections and the people who are involved.
Here is a recent picture of the Collections Management Team. Aren’t they a lovely bunch! It was taken during a recent visit to Beamish. I’ll be telling you more about them and what they do in this blog.
Collections Management Team
TWAM has collections stores at most of its 12 museums and galleries. At Beamish TWAM also has two shared stores called the Regional Resource Centre (RRC) and the Regional Museum Store (RMS) .
One of the largest objects in TWAM’s collection is stored at Beamish in the RMS. It’s the 1979 Doxford Engine.
1979 Doxford Engine
I also like this rather arty detail of the engine’s insides too.
Inside the engine
The engine’s Accession Number is TWCMS : 1993.11163. This is its unique reference number. These numbers help us to locate each object in the collection and manage information about it in our collections management system – essentially a big computer database.
The engine itself stands over 8 metres high! It is an amazing piece of engineering which stands as a tribute to the skill of Wearside’s marine engineers and shipbuilders. As collections managers we must ensure that every object in the collection is stored in appropriate conditions. We must ensure that metal objects such as this do not rust so the storage space has to be as dry as possible. The moisture content of the air needs to be very low, ideally no more than 30%. Keeping temperatures low (no more than 16 degrees C) also helps to slow down any deterioration of the objects.
For more information about the Doxford Engine click here.
If you want to get more actively involved in research and conservation of the engine please contact the Doxford Engine Friends Association.
My colleague John Clayson, who is TWAM’s Keeper of Science and Industry, has also written a book about the engine which is available from the Association or directly from John at Discovery Museum, Newcastle upon Tyne
Bye for now.
Mel
We’d like to welcome our very first set of Punch and Judy dolls into the history collection at TWAM.
Just some of the puppets from Adam’s Punch and Judy collection
These are not just any Punch and Judy dolls. They were given to the museum by Ann Small, the puppets belonged to her father Adam Miller. Adam ran the Punch and Judy show in Whitley Bay after 1945 seven days a week during the summer months
Punch and Judy at Whitley Bay
The dolls were hand carved from wood and Adam’s wife Florence made the costumes from old scraps of clothes. In the winter Adam performed the Punch and Judy show at the Christmas parties of local firms like Swan Hunters.
The stars of the show: Punch and Judy
Now it’s up to our volunteers to begin the task of adding all the details of the Punch and Judy collection to our computer system and packing them up in the store. Hopefully we will have the chance to use them in an exhibition in the not too distant future.
In the meantime I wonder if many people in the North East remember seeing the show?