The Mexican Red Knee lives on the Pacific Coast of Mexico in dry forest and desert habitats

Whe threatened they will not hisitate to flick hairs from their abdomen using their back legs. We call these ‘urticating Hairs’ and they can cause itchiness, swelling respiratory issues if inhaled.

Female Red Knee tarantulas can live to by as old as 30, whereas males rarely live past 10 years old.

Their diet consists of insects, frogs and the occasional mouse.*

*Information from a signboard next to the Tarantulas

Green Bean stick insects are native to the Caribbean including the islands of Grenada, St Vincent and Guadeloupe.

Both males and females have vestigial wings. This means that their evolutionary ancestors had wings and were capable of flight. However, the ability to fly became less useful and so their wings diminished over many generations until they became small and no longer worked.

Males are small and brown whereas females are large and green.

They feed on a variety of tree leaves native to the Caribbean but will happily eat bramble, eucalyptus and oak in the UK. *

*Information from a signboard next to the Stick Insects

We arrived in the breakfast room to find that the advertised continental breakfast was exactly as advertised, unlike our previous hotel where several components of the continental breakfast were missing. I couldn’t miss out on the opportunity even though the vegetarian breakfast was also tempting. I wasn’t disappointed.

After breakfast, as planned, we had a chilly but leisurely mooch around the town before having lunch in Huffkins. I chose a Belgian bun, which was tasty, but I had forgotten how sticky the icing on top is! Surprisingly one of the Waitresses recognised us from our previous visits.

Our planned adventure for the afternoon was the Butterfly Farm which was busier than on our previous visits. I felt a bit crowded out when we first arrived which wasn’t helped by a gentleman who followed me round as I was trying to take photographs; he too was looking for perfect photo opportunities. I think it might have been the half term holiday which starts a week earlier in Stratford than in my local schools.

There were lots of interesting creatures hiding in plain view in the tropical house, including a red kneed tarantula who unusually was at the front of his safe cave and slowly moving his fangs. The cayman, once again did not realise that I had come to visit and was hiding away in his sleeping quarters.

We returned to Brook Tavener where Mr C had purchased a jacket the previous day. He bought the same jacket in a different colour. It was now time to return to the hotel for a warming cup of tea and a chill out before pre-theatre dining in the Giggling Squid. I chose sticky chicken which was delicious and chose the appropriately named (for Valentine’s Day) Melting Heart Chocolate. Unfortunately, when it arrived it was the full-sized version rather than the small portion ordered, reminding me that the service had been a little bit quirky on our previous visit there. We had a date with Hamlet at the RSC so there wasn’t time to rectify the mistake.

Photo copywrite of the RSC (Hamlet promotional material)

The stage was stunning in the shape of a ship with water around the bows and a video of waves and horizon to the stern. The first half is scene setting where the story is told. The second half, which is more dramatic, saw the stage tilt back and forth with the stormy sea and dramatic culmination of the story.

We returned to the hotel to have a nightcap in the bar to find that our favourite seats had just been taken, as were all the other seats in the bar area. We retired to another seating area which is lovely, albeit quieter than the bar area.

We were joined by others including two gay couples (including an American and a German) who discussed the recent election of Trump and related politics of the situation. Their discussion was to loud to tune out, but at least it was interesting.

Charles Addams

Have fun spotting our resident iguanas! Prudence & Bennie are green iguanas, originating from South America. Prudence was donated to the Butterfly Farm about 8 years ago, and Bennie was donated in 2020. They like to hide up in the trees and bask in the warmth on top of the heaters where they like to keep a watchful eye on the goings on below! Be cautious of droppings if you are walking underneath them! They are magnificent creatures and excellent swimmers and love to fed on leaves, flowers and fruit.

Bennie decided to come down from his high perch and pose for the visitors. Isn’t he gorgeous!

Over 30 years ago Clive Farrell had a dream to create an attraction that would introduce visitors to the wonderment of butterflies. This dream became a reality in July 1985 when Stratford-upon-Avon Butterfly Farm opened its gates to the public.

The Stratford Butterfly Farm has been welcoming visitors to its tropical butterfly paradise for over three decades. The idea and setting up of the Butterfly Farm was the passion and dream of internationally renowned lepidopterist, Clive Farrell. The farm was officially opened on 24th July 1985 by botanist and naturalist, David Bellamy OBE.

Clive’s fascination with butterflies and nature began when he was five years old after finding a hairy caterpillar in his garden. He put it in a matchbox where it spun a cocoon and he watched it emerge as a beautiful Tiger Moth. It was a magical moment that has stayed with him. It is Clive’s hope that a visit to the Butterfly Farm will create such memorable moments for other generations to experience and be inspired by.

Behind the scenes an industrious team works tirelessly not only to bring pupae to Stratford Butterfly Farm but also to export and supply butterfly houses across the globe! To be able to do this we import from a variety of international butterfly farms, providing a sustainable income for the local community and conservation projects.

In 1991, following on from the successful launch of the Stratford Butterfly Farm, Clive joined forces with Ray Harbard to create the Fallen Stones Butterfly Farm in Belize.

The Belize butterfly farm is operated as a nature reserve that sustains local employment without having a negative impact on the local environment. The farm is treasured by the local Kekchi Maya villagers not just for the nature conservation benefits but for the considerable positive impact on the local community where so many young people would otherwise be out of work.

It has a highly successful breeding programme and supplies butterfly houses across the world. These Belizean butterflies can be seen as messengers from the fast dwindling rainforest, to you the visitor. They are infinitely precious and by protecting their natural habitat we protect all the other animals that live there, from jaguars to leaf cutter ants and everything in between!

Many of the beautiful butterflies that can be seen at Stratford Butterfly Farm are supplied by the Fallen Stones Butterfly Farm in the Maya Mountains of Belize. On its doorstep is the ancient Maya site of Lubaantun, which translates to ‘place of the fallen stones’, which is where the farm gets its name from. The people that work at the Fallen Stones Butterfly Farm are present-day Maya and this is the area where the ancient Maya once lived. It is the perfect environment for the types of plants that butterflies need to be able to feed and breed.

This fascinating connection between the Maya and Stratford Butterfly Farm has inspired us to exhibit throughout the farm, Maya and Mesoamerican replica sculptures and interpretation to inform our visitors of the amazing Maya civilisation and their culture.