The quirky family attraction with a guinea pig wild west town that visitors call the ‘cutest thing ever’
PEOPLE have branded a guinea pig wild west town as the cutest thing they’ve ever seen after it was created at a little-known UK family attraction.
The furry residents of Hog Springs now have a very unique setup with their new habitat officially opened earlier this summer.
The wild west-themed enclosure can be visited at Northumberland Zoo where it was constructed as part of an in-house competition between maintenance staff.
Each of them were given a certain building for the enclosure, which is now home to several guinea pigs, who can be found roaming around the western-themed village.
Within its walls are the Pig Inn, a heated saloon, a sheriff’s office and jail, complete with gnaw marks where unruly pigs have chewed their way out.
There’s also a church, a station, a barber’s, a bank, a town hall, a blacksmith’s, stables, a mercantile store and a paddock, giving the animals plenty of space to explore.
The guinea pigs are rescue animals from a local organisation called Gertie’s, meaning their new cowboy lifestyle is also a second chance.
The zoo shared a tour of the wild west town online via their YouTube channel, shortly after it opened in May, with lots of people very impressed by the enclosure.
One wrote: “This is so cool! An absolute paradise for the piggies!”
Another said: “This is so cute! Thank you for caring for these cuties.”
A third added: “This is incredible, the cutest thing I’ve seen.
“Such amazing work by the team to create it, detail is fantastic. Can’t wait to come and see the piggies.”
The guinea pigs aren’t the only animals that can be seen at the zoo either, with their much larger relatives, capybara, among some other mammals that live on site.
Lemurs, meerkats and wallabies are among an array of animals families can see housed at the attraction.
The zoo acts as a north-east hub for wildlife conservation and plays a part in conserving species like European wildcats, snow leopards, harvest mice and white-clawed crayfish.
It’s also well-situated for family days out too, with the Northumberland coast just a stone’s throw away.
Popular seaside towns like Alnmouth and Bamburgh can be reached easily by car.
Meanwhile, Alnwick treehouse and castle, which was used as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films, are also close by.
Alnwick gardens is now home to the world’s largest play structure, Elfwin Drin, which opened in Northumberland this year.
One of Europe’s largest second-hand book shops, Barter Books, is another attraction crammed into the area around the coast.
There are great pubs there too, with the Ship Inn in Low Newton-by-the-Sea once top of a list of the best beach pubs in the country put together by Conde Nast Traveller.
The nearest places to stay to Northumberland zoo are Amble, where rooms can be found from £32.50pp per night, and Morpeth where accommodation is available from £27.50.
Meanwhile, this UK seaside town is almost like visiting a Greek island.
And you can watch dolphins from a music festival at this UK destination.