About Our Creator - Nicole Williams
Hello my name is Nicole Williams and I am the proud owner of That Little Museum In Essex.
Since I was a child I have always loved the natural world and animals in particular.
From going to zoo's as a kid with Colchester Zoo in Essex being my local.... to going to zoo's around the world when going on holiday, I always knew what I wanted to be when I grew up and that was to work with animals.
Many things have gotten in the way but having my own museum with many different parts of animals including taxidermy is the next best thing for me.
Over the years I have has the privilege of meeting many animals including going to see baby Tigers and Leopards in a rescue center in Mexico to being urinated on by a Squirrel Monkey in Epping.... the glamour.
Over the years I have has the privilege of meeting many animals including going to see baby Tigers and Leopards in a rescue center in Mexico to being urinated on by a Squirrel Monkey in Epping.... the glamour.
Animals have always been my passion and have owned many animals in my life, at the moment I own a French Bulldog called Reggie and a Red- Footed Tortoise called Timmy.
I have always wanted to own Sugar Gliders, but after doing lots of research I quickly realised that they don't make the best pets so hopefully one day I will be able to open my own rescue centre taking on unwanted exotic pets and giving them a life closest to the wild.
People have always said to me that I have a connection with animals as whenever I have been to zoos, the animals tend to come over to the window to get close to me, it must be the oar I give off.
Some of the most amazing animal experiences I've had where at Colchester Zoo when the legend Orangutan that was Rajang would come over to the window to see me as I went to the zoo so often he recognized me and we would often share a kiss though the glass.
Every year I would have my birthday party at zoos and would feed the animals and that's when I knew I needed to work with animals and that I wanted to own a rescue centre if I ever won the lottery or came into some money!
My hope for That Little Museum is to partner up with some animal charities and raise awareness of some of the most threatened species on the planet.
When I was younger I would watch animal documentary's all the time and and one of my most watched was Monkey Business and Monkey Life as i would often have them on repeat all the time. These series where filmed at Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre in Dorset leading to me often visiting the centre.
I became in owe of DR Alison Cronin, her late husband Jim Cronin and Jeremy Keeling who ran Monkey World and they still do to this day.
I can remember writing to Monkey World all the time as a child and I even got all three of their autographs and had it framed and up on my bedroom wall as they where my idols.
I've always had a massive passion for saving animals as two of my favourite are the Amur Leopards and Orangutan's and I'd like to try my hardest to save these wonderful animals from extinction.
I started to collect specimens at around 8 years old as me and my family would go to the beach and collect shells, sharks teeth and then whenever we would go to aquariums I would often buy a dead seahorse from the giftshop, what thankfully they no longer sell.
I can remember going to the Natural History Museum as a child with the school and being absolutely fascinated with all the specimens they had, would just go into the gift shop and want to buy my own rocks to say that I owned some specimens.
As a child me and my family would go to the Otter and Owl Centre in the New Forrest and in the gift shop they had a display where they had taxidermy UK wildlife and I remember being fascinated by these, knowing that they where real animals that had passed away and had been turned into something beautiful what will last a lifetime.
I can remember thinking that when I grew up I would love some taxidermy.
I still remember to this day when I got my first resin bug as I had subscribed to the Real Life Bug's and Insets magazine where you got a different bug every week and it was preserved in a resin block.
I just loved it, looking at them all the time as I was mesmerized that it was a real bug and I owned it.
Over the years I have collected hundreds of different specimens from up and down the country and from different places all over the world.
People have always been shocked when you tell them that you have bits of animals in your house and often are fascinated when they see them for real.
I was probably around 12 when me and my family had a day out at Isle Of Wight Zoo and I was left fascinated by a beautiful Crested-red legged Sameera bird, on the floor where loads of its feathers what had fallen out so I tried my luck and wrote to the zoo and asked if I could have some.
Within a week they had sent me a whole envelope and I must have just stared at them for days after that.
Them feathers are actually in That Little Museum to this day as they have been kept safe for all them years.
Every now and then I would write to different zoos asking for bits and bobs and they would send me some items but now unfortunately due to CITES they are no longer allowed to send items from animals out to people.
Luckily though private collectors, taxidermists and other museums we have been given specimens that we never thought in a million years we would own!
One big shock was being donated some Siberian Tiger fur from a UK zoo after the animal had to have a routine operation and they sent us the shavings from the fur.
This is the start of the show in That Little Museum as it has been framed along with an information bord saying where the specimen has came from!
They also sent one of the tigers whiskers too.
I would have to say my favourite in my collection is the big cat fur snipping's what a few zoos sent me over the years. To know that I own a bit of a big cat is priceless to me.
My other favourites are the Pygmy Marmoset babies as we have two of these in our collection with one of them as a wet specimen and the other one is a taxidermy piece.
I have a couple of things in the pipeline and I know that they will become my favoured ever specimen at That Little Museum so stay tuned for that.
Thank you for taking the time to visiting the site today and I'd like to say a massive thank you to all the people and companies who have donated specimens to That Little Museum, without yous we wouldn't be able to do it so thank you so much.
Nicole x