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Have you noticed who there is comfortably stretched out behind that bush over there or, perhaps, somewhere near the pond? Do let us introduce you to our four-legged little friends! The first to deserve a mention is the hotel's three-coloured, striped Irmi, our own mini tiger.
Irmi is not always happy to be interrupted and needs to be shown some respect. We found her standing alone and forlorn in front of the main door of the hotel some seventeen years ago and, since then, the laziest cat in the whole wide world has been making life difficult for Silvi, our long-suffering family dog.
That, of course, brings us to Silvi herself, a somewhat shy, unassuming little animal. She has had quite an unfortunate past, as you may see from her rather sad-looking face, and has survived a number of broken ribs and other accidents. She is also not too keen on company and seems to feel safe when she can hide away from prying eyes in the hotel office. She does, however, absolutely love Aunt Betty and is well fed and looked-after from early morning to late at night.
Now we come to the most elegant of our animal friends, our very regal-looking snow-white swans, Sissi and Franz Josef, who glide in solitary splendour over the hotel pond with its magnificent water lilies. These colourful, waxen-leaved blooms are our pride-and-joy and, just last year, the hotel gardeners planted over seventy of them in the park's 600 square metre lake. It really is a shame that our water birds are so fond of the shoots that hardly a leaf has been spared their attention up to now! By the way, did you know that swans can live to the ripe old age of sixty years and remain faithful to one partner all their lives?
The Irma house ducks are especially brave and cheeky and make themselves heard as they wend their chattering way across the still surface of the pond. Well-loved Felix usually leads the way with his adoring females in tow while you may feel that the two white-feathered sisters, Elke und Sieglinde, look a little familiar. You're quite right! We actually named them after Ilse Meister's two sisters and many guests remark on how alike they are
Max, the hotel tortoise, takes life very slowly and comfortably. He won't be rushed and loves sun-bathing out on the lawn between the tennis courts and the sea-water pool or in the shade of a handy sun-lounger so, please don't be too shocked if you open your eyes and find him dozing right under where you have just been doing the self same thing!
Our hotel hedgehog, fondly name Luis after the much-respected president of the region of South Tyrol, is a really nice little character. He appears as soon as the sun has gone down, wanders round the lake, takes a look at guests as they enjoy their dinner, sees if the cats have left him any tempting little titbits and then strolls slowly off again.
Then we come to Schmusi, one of our outside, neighbourhood cats who wanders into the grounds, from time-to-time, as if she owns the place and waves her bushy tail in all directions. She has a lovely smile, too and clearly feels very much at home with us. She comes and goes as she pleases, tends to lie back for a short doze under one of the thickly-upholstered sun-loungers of Suite 181 in the Villa Amore and can often be heard snoring rhythmically in the background.
PS: Many regular guests will by now be asking themselves what has happened to our star cat Pinki. We regret to say that she took her last breath at the beginning of May 2005, lying peacefully in Ilse Meister's arms. She had enjoyed twenty-three wonderful cat years - remember, that's more than 144 years for us mere mortals - which proves just how good the Meran air is for our health and for a long life! She enjoyed herself right up to the very end and was well-cared for and much loved, too.
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