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Stuart curled up in the grass

We did not leave Lyme until 4 but must admit I was jazzed out by then !

I was straight down to the fawns to see how they were. Lisa had let them out into their paddock on Saturday so they were all out in the grass and looking great. They had all freaked when she went in to fill up their bowls while I was away so there was no point in trying to syringe feed Rob and Derek. As I went into the paddock Derek and Rob came up to me for a fuss but neither wanted a syringe feed so hopefully everyone is lapping now.

 I got a lovely picture of Stuart laying up in the grass and they were all excited to get fresh browse. I noticed the buzzard in the long pen by the fawns. He is flying well. Found a couple of days ago on the side of the road, he must have been clipped by a vehicle. He will soon be ready to go home.

The buzzard looking much better now

 I have just seen the fawns all curled up in their shed and the red’s back in their inside pen for the night. It’s good to be back.

The fawns are settled in the shed. By feeding them over the door Rob and Derek are still taking from the syringe. Martin and Stuart ( as the fallow has been named ) are lapping. I’m away for a few days so Lisa is going to look after them for me but I doubt that they will feed from her. I am leaving them shut in for today to get used to the shed for shelter.

 Lisa has been busy today getting up to date with the blood testing. I shall be glad when we have done all three tests on all of the cubs. It is horrible waiting for results and knowing that if they are positive, that we will have to put them down although they look perfectly healthy. Sadly it is a protocol that we must follow to be responsible with Bovine tb being such a problem in the cattle at the moment.

I took some photos of the fawns when I did the evening feed. The fallow has such fabulous eyes!

Stuart has such gorgeous eyes!

Stuart and Rob - they all seem settled in the shed

Another quiet day but there did seem to be more people about. Again very hot and thundery but the rain did not come until during the night. Visitors enjoyed meeting the animals in our courtyard talks.

The craft tent had some beautiful items but as it was so quiet, they did not make much money – although they say they enjoy coming because it’s such a lovely atmosphere, which is very kind of them.

It was another late night with a Roe juvenile and injured fox both arriving after 10 p.m. Luckily Marie was on lates and she never goes home at 10! The Roe was settled in the fawn unit and the fox took the last vacant casualty pen. We will need to assess them properly tomorrow.

Beryl with Twinkle, our Tawny Owl

Neil H with Victor, our corn snake

Helen with Amber, our Kestrel

The 'Bumble Bees' in the cubby hole

April 23^{rd –} Bedlam in the kitchen with all 8 cubs desperate for food but after a couple of hours feeding, clearing up and putting the washing on, everyone was asleep until the next feed! The new cubs have settled in well and I decided to move Ross, Elsa and Roly down to the Millie building so that they would have more room as they are now weaned.

That leaves the little bumble bees in the kitchen so the cubby hole is now home to Poly, Jonathon, Pudding and Pie and Little Miss Muffet. Yes, we’re going for nursery rhymes as the theme this year!

Another fox cub came in today and has gone down to join Todd and Mojo. I had a look when I went down to feed Hope, the otter cub and they were all snuggled up together. I thought I had lost Hope last night as I could not find her anywhere but she was curled up in the tunnel so I turned the heat lamp off that was over her box and put the lid down so that it’s nice and warm inside. She was curled up in the hay when I looked this evening so she will soon be able to move out to our otter enclosure which will give her a lot more room.

The deer that came in last night is looking good so hopefully she will be able to go back tomorrow. We have quite a few successes with deer this year so it just goes to show that it’s always worth a try. Continue reading Pauline’s Blog – 23rd & 24th April

Baby Deer

A Roe Fawn, like the one pictured left, was saved by the brave actions of a Somerset couple. Sean Spolton and his fiance Angela Pye were walking back from the pub at around 11.30pm when he saw two poachers standing over the body of a dead roe deer. When he realised that they were about to shoot the young fawn he stepped between it and the shooters shotgun. The poachers then loaded the big fermale into their truck and they drove off. Sean and Angela took the orphaned fawn home and then the next morning one of Secret World’s volunteer response drivers collected it and dropped it off at the Highbridge based wildlife rescue centre.

The fawn, which has now been named Pebbles, seems to have recovered from the serious shock that she was in when she first arrived, and is now grouped with seven other fawns in one of Secret World’s paddocks.