I'M STILL 'celebrating' this site's five year anniversary. The picture to the left shows one of the obvious high points of my journalistic career so far. I'm so enamoured that I feel it should reproduce the story from that day as it appeared in the paper (complete with terrible 'local-news-speak'...). The exact date will come back to me later. Just think: I might even get those free season tickets to the zoo that I was promised.

Wild things or The Observer meets the Hamiltons by Damian

Guess who's coming to dinner? Christine and Neil Hamilton had a roaring good time at Marwell Zoological Park last week. The 'I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here' star and the 'disgraced former Conservative MP' (referred to from here on - in the interests of journalistic fairness and balance - as Neil) were at Marwell to publicise the 'Keeper For A Day' scheme which allows members of the public to get even closer to the animals than usual. Money raised by the scheme will be used to fund future projects which will be chosen by Marwell's own keepers.

I was due to meet the celebrity couple for a photo opportunity at Marwell's tiger enclosure. Through a mixture of luck and instinct (OK, just luck) I managed to grab a lift with Marc Fox, a very helpful chap and – luckily for me – Marwell's big cat keeper. It was also fortuitous that I met him, as nobody could get anywhere near the tigers without his say so. This meant that I got to the Hamiltons before the rest of the press pack, allowing me to spend some quality time with them and the big cats.

Following the Hamiltons into the tigers' feeding area, I watched open-mouthed as Neil mused aloud: "I really want to touch their claws." Noticing that keeper Marc sensibly wore some seriously sturdy-looking gauntlets when dealing with the animals up close, I was about to attempt to draw attention to Neil's folly when his wife rebuked him. "Darling, don't do anything silly," she chimed, with some understatement bearing in mind that these magnificent animals can put away 15 kilos of meat a day. I found it more than a little worrying to think that Mr H had at one time been responsible for making decisions on behalf of the nation. I still do.

Your correspondent felt obliged to pose for a few photos with the Hamiltons, in the interests of extending the hand of friendship and as much for their archives as mine. As the shutter clicked, Christine declared: "Now our little family is complete!" I said I'd give it some thought. Joking apart (and I’m not sure she was), it should be pointed out here that throughout the afternoon they were charm personified and no question or request went unheeded. Somewhat bonkers they may be, but disarmingly honest and very accommodating with it.

Christine clearly loved the whole experience. She told me she'd been mucking out the giraffes, feeding a (literal) menagerie of other animals and really getting stuck in, heaving bales of straw and following the keepers on their rounds. "Neil was mucking out the stables at nine this morning. It's what it's all about. Absolutely wonderful," she enthused. "Marwell is a fantastic place and I hope many will be tempted to share my experience and become Keeper for a Day – after all, you can only be eaten once!"

There was little chance of getting eaten by the giraffes, our last stop of the day. They only had eyes for the buckets full of bananas that our honorary zookeepers were feeding them, watched by a slightly bemused crowd of paying customers. Exactly what Neil had in mind when he proffered his tongue to one of our long-necked friends we'll probably never know. This is doubtless for the best.

"Keeper for a Day" is available to members of the public at Marwell. Full details and costs are available from 01962 777965.