The unusual menagerie that’s echoing around Ballywalter
By Gabrielle Swan
WITH 12 peacocks, two African grey parrots, a cockatoo and two toygers, Karen McCracken’s home is far from a boring one.
A lover of all things fur, feathers and hooves since she was a child, Karen’s countryside home near Ballywalter is punctuated with the sounds of all the animals she loves.
In a part of the country more commonly associated with farm animals, Karen has turned her home into a stunning menagerie that just keeps growing.
Karen has always loved animals but this grew even more intense when she lived in the Central American country of Belize in the 1970s and 1980s.
The commonwealth nation is known as a biodiversity hotspot for mammals, reptiles, sea life and birds and it was during her stay at Karen got her first bird, a blue fronted amazon parrot.
Since moving back to Northern Ireland her collection has grown to impressive levels and her home is now assaulted by the well-known calls from her muster of peacocks, the clear and confident meow of her striped toygers and the whistles, kisses and mimics from her African grey parrots.
Among the more unique members of this animal assembly are her two pet toygers, three-year-olds Zulu and Rajah.
Thankfully, the rare breed is not the same size as the big-cats they are named for, though they are slightly larger than the average housecat.
The American stock is bred from domestic shorthairs to look like toy tigers. They sport an orange striped coat, strong face, big paws and round green eyes.
Karen got the pair two years ago and they now reside in a large, well-equipped run with climbing apparatus, safely separate from the roaming fowl and house birds.
As for her flock of peacocks, the bulk of her south Asian birds came from a unique birthday present last year.
Among them are a vibrant blue-green Indian peacock, along with others that are white and apricot. Karen affectionately calls the latter her ‘ghosts’, due to their colouring that makes them blend-in with certain areas.
The smaller birds include Senna and Barney, both African grey parrots and with them is the boisterous white cockatoo, Bojangles. The three often make their own voices heard, recreating the sounds of alarms, and repeating words they should not.
“They do have very strong personalities, Barney has a big Belfast accent,” said Karen.
“I’ve had Barney for four years and Senna was a rescue bird who I have had for a year,” she added.
“I got Bojangles in March, when I met him at a bird sale, but a girl had just bought him right before me.
“That Monday, the guy who was running the show rang me and asked if I was still interested in a cockatoo, because it wasn’t working out with the one who bought him.
“For the first two months it was rough going, very much like adopting a child. ”He would go out and sit in the tree in the garden all summer, but only if I am there, because we do have a sparrow hawk that comes around and seagulls. I have to be careful and protect them.”
Karen’s assortment of animals also contains some more common animals, such as three hens, a rooster and four miniature Shetland ponies.
“I had silver Bengal cats in the past, but they died of feline leukaemia, I was totally devastated,” Karen recalled. However, the absence of cats meant rats were becoming a problem so she acquired a toyger, called Zulu. She hadn’t planned on getting a second, but when Zulu settled so well she decided to get Rajah.”
But the arrival of the toygers means Karen has to be careful that they and the various birds do not meet.
“There is a routine with the toygers, Rajah and Zulu, going out into their pen in the morning, which means the birds can then come out.
“The birds will go to bed at about 7.30pm, then we are ready for the toygers to come back in.
“It’s not too much of a challenge when you get them into a routine,” added Karen.
But could the collection increase in the near future. Karen has no plans on adding to her menagerie, but she’s not ruling out the possibility that a new call could be echoing around her home if the opportunity arises.
