I am so sorry to be late with all my news. It has been a some what hectic few weeks !!!
Our Open Weekend on May 23rd, 24th and 25th was a great success. The weather was fantastic and plenty of visitors on each day made all the hard work preparing for the weekend worthwhile. We had many people on return visits and others who came for the first time. I think the fact that we don’t charge admission is a great attraction as so many people are finding finances difficult.
The Alpacas were a favourite as well as the bottle feeding lambs and of course the climbing wall and trampolines added extra amusement to the play area. The talks that are carried out through out the day gives us the chance to tell people about our work and also to tell them about the many animals that we care for.
Megan, the tame fox, was a little taken back by the sudden explosion of people but was soon keen to come out and have a fuss made of her. We were able to explain how keeping a fox as a pet is really not a good idea and people soon get the point when they smell that foxy smell. The grassed enclosure looked good now that all the foliage has grown and I had a super photo sent through the post from Andrew Gell of Marie with Michaela Strachan when they were filming here the week before.
Secret World's Marie with Michaela
While we were busy here, many of our response drivers were out collecting casualties and sadly Graeme was to travel all the way past Dorchester only to find that the poor little badger cub had died by the time he arrived. Often, if cubs lose their mums when out at night, they are unable to fend for themselves and will die from starvation if not found in time.
One of our more unusual casualties was a slow worm which had been caught by a cat and had several puncture marks along it’s body so will need antibiotics and care for a few days.
26th May
A quieter day for me but still busy with casualties at the centre. The weather was nice and I was able to enjoy a saunter around the farm in the early evening. It’s not often I get the chance to really appreciate our surroundings ( not taking in to account the noise of the motorway !) The peacocks are fully displaying at the moment and it’s amazing to see their huge tails – not that the duck that he was displaying too was very much impressed. The moorhen has had her second brood of chicks and the small black fluff balls were busy scurrying around the duck pond. I even managed to see one of the four rabbits that live in our huge enclosure – the black and white one called Elvis ! The badger cubs were out in their enclosures looking for the food that would soon be arriving and finally I walked over to feed Hope, catching her coming out from her box and over for her supper. I managed to get some shots to show you.
The peacocks look amazing when they show
The baby moorhens
Elvis the rabbit
Badger Cubs in the outside enclosure
Hope having her tea!
And thinking about having a dip in her pool!
May 27th
This was a really wet day which was a shame as there were a group of people to look around but we still managed to see most of the centre without getting too wet. Some really tiny baby field voles have arrived and are proving to be quite difficult to feed as they are so small !
Feeding the Vole isn't an easy job!
May 28th
A really lucky casualty today was a toad who had been caught up in the blades of a mower. Thankfully it was not as horrendous as it sounds and he was able to go home the same day! Sadly many wild animals do get horrific injuries from mowers and strimmers and if it is at all possible to check the area where grass it to be cut first, it can often prevent some dreadful accidents.
Laura feeding Blie Tits in the hospital room
A legacy of the wet weather yesterday meant a large increase in baby birds where nests had fallen or become sodden. ( I can remember a pheasant hen thinking that the drain hole was a good place to nest one long sunny summer but sadly the rain came before the eggs hatched out )
Blue Tits seem to be in large numbers – often deserted by their parents when the weather turns cold and the caterpillars that they need are not around for them to feed their young. The hourly feeds take nearly an hour so once one round is finished it’s almost time to start again in the hospital at this time of year. There were so many birds in the Hospital room that Lisa took a brood of Blue Tits home with her at the end of the day that needed to be fed every half – just to lessen the pressure on the evening staff. With badger and fox cubs all needing to be fed after dark, there is a lot to do in the evenings.
May 29th
24/7 were filming here for the day but it was Simon’s turn to be the one on camera. They were just going to film and interview when a call came in about two badgers stuck down a man hole in Bristol so film crew, Simon and Val went off to the rescue.
I went over to visit Eunice Overend who is now nearly 90 years old. She was probably the first person to rear badger cubs and over the years I have learnt a lot from her. Her life story would make a good book as she has many memories of living in Yorkshire where her parents were involved with weaving. Her knowledge of wildlife is endless and she still does not suffer fools easily ! It comes from being a school teacher.
I can remember giving a talk at a village hall where one of the audience came up and told me about her biology teacher at school who used to bring a badger cub in with her and how it used to follow her around. Yes – it was Eunice. Can you imagine what would happen if a teacher tried to do that today!
My return was to walk straight into a situation where a member of the public had brought in a badly injured young roe fawn. My comment yesterday about avoiding accidents when mowing was to be all too true . Evidently a farmer was mowing a field and went over the fawn. He just threw it on the side but luckily the lady saw what was happening and went to its rescue. The fawn was crying pitifully. One leg was completely sheared off and the two back legs were broken. It was immediately euthanased. If I find out who the farmer was and the facts are true, then I shall be making a phone call to the RSPCA.
Simon managed to get the badgers out of the manhole and it turned out to be a sow and cub. They had been down there for a while so will be spending a couple of days recuperating but no longer as the sow may have another cub somewhere.
The day was rounded off with a late arrival of a fox cub found in a garden in Bristol. It was obviously a road traffic accident with open fractures to both front and back legs. I just hate the thought of how so many injured wild animals must die slow deaths all because of our roads.
May 30th
The Fox Cubs enjoying their meal
The fox cub from Wales with the broken leg is doing well. He is in with another cub that had been showing neurological symptoms for company and they are the best of friends. It’s always good to be able to team animals up rather than leave them on their own.
A Swan that came in with the fox cub with suspected lead poisoning has been found to have a high level of lead so is receiving further treatment. She has been looking very depressed but soon perked up when put out in a grass enclosure with another swan so maybe she will improve.
31st May
One of our response drivers, Terry was called out to a fawn that was stuck behind some fences in Clevedon. It had been there for some time crying but had now gone quiet. The mother was nowhere to be seen so it was too much of a risk to let it go as it was quite a built up area. However, once they got it here we realised that it was much bigger than the ones in the kitchen so it was put in the fawn unit loose box and I was able to monitor it on camera. We were keeping it close up in the shed while it got used to its surroundings.
Leigh called me out to a badger cub that was running around in one of the grassed enclosures. She seemed very erratic and when I went in to look, it was obvious once I picked her up that she had lost a lot of weight. It was Little Miss Muffet from the kitchen crew. She had a slight shake to her head and was constantly pacing. Both Lisa and Liz, our vet thought that the behaviour was probably due to imbalance caused by lack of food, so I syringed her with lectades and a/d over the next few hours and she quietened down. I put her in my office so that I could keep an eye on her and she quickly curled up in her new box, popping out for little meals as she wanted them. There still has to be a reason why she should lose condition as there is plenty of food put in for the cubs with dry food always available so we will have to wait and see.
1st June
We had Country file booked to come and film with regards to the Bovine TB problem in cattle. They were looking for a ‘balanced view’ which I suppose because I have a background of farming, it makes it a bit different. I didn’t realise that it would be John Craven himself so it was excitement all round ! They obviously wanted badgers in the picture but I was not prepared to hold a cub myself because that immediately reduces whatever I say as the comments of a ‘bunny hugger’ so we just did an interview in one of the badger pens with the little ones that so far were not outside. John Craven was soon to find that they are always fascinated with people’s shoes and that their ‘playful’ bites can hurt. I just hope that the subject is given fair coverage. It’s due to go out on Sunday 14th June
Simon was with the 24/7 film crew seeing the group of the smallest fox cubs now being moved to a grassed enclosure now that they were able to cope with outside facilities. The film crew stayed over in case there were any late night emergencies that they could film but all was quiet.
Whereas my evening was spent with the Links Ladies Circle, a lovely group of ladies who I hope were impressed with the work that we do. It is not until people look around that they realise the extent of our facilities and the number of animals cared for.
2nd June
It was my turn to do some filming with 24/7 with the fawns in the kitchen. The film crew know that they have to work around us and as long as I tell them where to stand and to keep quiet things usually go ok and luckily both fawns fed well and they were able to get some good shots.
The rest of the day was a bit of a waste of time for them as they followed a callout to a fox cub with Graeme, one of our response drivers but sadly the cub was in a very bad way and died on the journey back. They then went straight on to an injured fox in a garden in Weston Super Mare again with Graeme but he was no where to be seen. Still it was a good example of days when things just don’t go right. They missed the visit to the vet that I made with a noctule bat with a prolapse. It was quite incredible to watch Liz work on the bat including stitching the injury. The anaesthetic was the most difficult thing to administer but it all went successfully.
Little Miss Muffet also went into the vets. She is brighter but still is not putting on weight. Liz thinks she may have dwarfism which just means she won’t grow but Liz has taken tests to see. Meanwhile I have to put up with a badger cub either asleep on my feet or chewing them and I’m not very impressed with her sorting of my CD’s and tapes which goes on at night. A pile of poop on my Dolly Parton cd, I presume means that she’s not a fan of hers !
The film crew from 24/7 got some better filming done in the evening as they were able to follow Simon taking the sow and badger cub back to their home territory. The manhole had already been filled in and the site manager kindly opened up the site out of hours to allow the release. Two happy badgers hopefully had a tale to tell in their sett that night !
3rd June
The fawn in the loose box is still very scatty and I can’t get near it but I can see on camera that it is lapping the milk and eating the browse and carrot and apple that I am putting in for him. With luck, by the end of the week I should be able to leave the door open so that he can go out in the paddock.
Two little owls were amongst the many casualties today. They were found on a barn floor, cold and collapsed. Given a time in an incubator they soon brightened up and took some food. Trudi, one of our volunteers, who is also one of our bird handlers, has taken them home to look after. She recently looked after two tawny owls which have now gone on to aviaries and is really enjoying the experience of caring for birds of prey.
The Owls are so fluffy!
Feeding one of the Little Owls
4th June
There has been an ongoing problem for a couple of weeks with a roe deer in Kingswood in Bristol. This is a very built up area of Bristol with hardly any green areas in the vicinity of 2 – 3 miles. The deer has been living in the garden of a house for over a week and there has been concerns as work is soon to commence of the house which would involved clearing the overgrown garden.
Simon and Graeme went to Bristol to see what they could do. Although the people who lived at the house could get quite close to the deer, it soon took flight on seeing Simon and Graeme and ran down the road much to the surprise of people around. This is always the danger when dealing with deer in built up areas. Making them run can make them take actions that they would not usually do. Greenhouses, conservatories and roads are not good news. Luckily it ran into another garden and Simon was able to catch it. Covering it over with a blanket, they took it to the nearest green corridor of parkland and fields. Hopefully it will settle better there and it could even be part of its original territory.
5th June
It took me some time to scrub out Hope’s pond. I do it every week but the sun has got the algae going. Today will be a good day to see if we can film some under water footage of Hope later in the day. When the water is crystal clear, she looks fabulous diving through the water with streams of bubbles following her through.
Matilda, the white duck is down to 2 ducklings. Emily is constantly worrying about them but sadly nature’s sometimes is very cruel.
The fawn in the unit is quieter when I go in but I still can’t get anywhere near him. Still he is eating ok on camera and I will open the door soon for him to go outside
4 tiny bay rabbits have arrived. The finders had called to say they were on their way and described them as moles. When Leigh answered the door, he explained that they were rabbits and the young man who had come in with his family was being ribbed for not knowing what they were! They were discovered in a hole in the ground so it is understandable that it could be assumed that they were moles. Laura has taken them on so she will have her hands full.
6th June
Went to Bookers this morning to get sweets and drinks for the reception shop. Bought a box of Peanut Kit Kats which was probably a bad move. Maybe if I eat a lot of them I will get sick on them – worth a try.
Well heavy rain was forecast for today and it was indeed torrential. A couple brought a stoat in to us in the evening. It had been hit on the road and they kindly stopped to see if they could help it. It was still alive but very poorly. On examination, we were sadly to find that she was lactating so somewhere there were babies that would be dependant on her. We put her in an incubator and gave her pain relief but I will be surprised if she is still alive tomorrow morning.
I decided to paint the walls in my office during the evening just so that I could spend time with Little Miss Muffet. I was just too tired to do paperwork. 3 walls later, I was pretty proud of what I had achieved and Little Miss Muffet had a few more white stripes than before I started! I gave the fawns their last feed of the day and got to bed around 2.30 a.m.
I laid in bed and listened to the sound of the heavy rain. Much as I love the sound of rain, I knew that many baby animals were not going to survive the night.
7th June
I can do late nights but the early mornings aren’t so easy!! It was one of those ‘why do I do this?” mornings which changed into a day that proved me right with many fledglings brought in close to death. Even in our own outside aviary we had lost four Blue Tits, ones that we had worked so hard with to get them to survive. One of Matilda’s ducklings had committed suicide in the swan’s feeding bowl so she was down to one. It was going to be one of those days.
I soon realised looking on camera that the fawn down in the unit was dead. I went down to investigate as I just could not believe that it was anything to do with feeding as it was doing so well. Kneeling down by the still warm body, I noticed maggots in its mouth and face. Sickened by what I saw, I realised that he must have had a wound from pushing against the fence that we had not noticed when he was examined when he arrived, and it had become maggot infested. It is such a delicate balance of trying to keep away from animals to avoid stress and yet not to miss injuries in this way. I knew that I had failed the fawn and it must have suffered before it died. Sometimes, I hate this job.
The arrival of a young fox later in the day which Judith asked me to check just about rounded the day off as it was a horrendous open fracture which had become infected. There was nothing we could do to help him. Another dead animal.
A late call from Marie who was covering emergency cover told me that another roe fawn was on its way in. The poor thing was found next to its dead mother who had died giving birth to the second fawn. Another challenge and sometimes it’s so easy to get exhausted with failure, bad luck and cruel situations. Settling the tiny mite in with the others once it was checked over, it took a small drink of colostrum replacer. I stayed in the kitchen to give it a 3 a.m. feed and finally got to bed just after 4 a.m.
Derek outside eating the flowers!
June 8th
Little Jed, as I had called the newest fawn, was ready for a feed by 7 a.m. The other two fawns were busy cleaning him so I hope he will be ok.
Little Miss Muffet is still in the office. We have not got any results yet but she still is not putting on any weight although she has developed a passion for fruit cake. She has her routine of breakfast with me when I get in the office and then sleeps most of the day apart from the odd foray around the office if anything interesting is happening. Two helpings of dinner in the evenings should be helping her put on weight but I don’t think it is.
Little Jed is needing feeds every 3 hours, where as the other two are only on 4 feeds a day. I still take Derek the fawn out for walks in the garden but not the others as they are too timid.
Graeme and Terry were both called out to an injured swan that had been trampled on by some bullocks. The injuries were such that it was put to sleep so another desperate situation.
The other three fawns in the cubby hole
On a lighter note, 5 baby shrews have been brought in and they are fascinating to watch. Luckily they are already furred and feeding themselves with milk but they are so entertaining with their long snouts sniffing out the food.
June 9th
A very poorly female badger cub has come in. She was found in a collapsed state and Lisa tried to put her on a drip but was unable to find a vein. Even after taking her through to the vets, it was impossible to get a line in so Lisa is going to try and pull her through with sub cut fluids and lots of small feeds of lactates. Lisa takes the cub home over night to look after her.
A busy office day for me with meetings and ordering stock for the shop in reception. I amazed how quickly time goes trying to fit feeding in between everything else. I had a silly notion of watching television this evening – even ignoring the ironing that needs doing – but a call from a passer by about a deer that had just been knocked down a few roads away soon found Simon and I on our way with equipment. The lady showed us where it was and indeed a lovely adult male roe was sitting stunned in the ditch. Simon was able to bring it up on to the road and we were able to lay it in a cage. It was obvious from the amount of blood and the position of the legs that all we could do was to end the suffering. Not the best end of the day.
Mind you, the final feed of the day with the fawns definitely lifted my spirits, maybe it is all worth it.
June 10th
Lisa is pleased that her cub has made it through the night. She has been names Polly after ‘Polly put the Kettle on’ – our nursery rhyme theme. Polly is still very weak but Lisa is happy with her progress. Still she has a long way to go.
I have promised to go to Tickeham School with some animals. It’s the school that my grand children, Harry and Katie, go to so it was important that I got it right !! I was able to take animals and the whole school of just over 80 children crammed into one room. The joys of clips of videos with live animals assures an interested audience and they were all very well behaved.
Just as dinner was served in the evening, I am told another fawn is on its way. I did manage to finish dinner before it arrived and was very surprised to see that it was a red calf. I could feel its umbilical cord so it must be about three days old but he is incredibly thin and very weak. And then there were four! The other three accepted him despite him being bigger than all of them ! He needed food but was not able to suck so I tube fed him 100 mls of half lectade and half milk. I had decided not to do the middle of the night feed for Jed but seeing as this one had arrived, it was back on the agenda. If and when he is stronger, he is going to be far too big to stay with the roe but I’ll worry about that when it happens. The finder’s had given him the name of Freckles – a far more sensible name than Derek, Rob and Jed!
Four deer in the cubby hole!
June 11th
Well everyone in the cubbyhole was alive this morning so the feeds continue through the day. Freckles is looking stronger but I’m still tube feeding him at the moment to get the nourishment into him. He looks so big in comparison to the others!
Most of today was taken up catching up with my blog!!
I’m pleased to say that Emily’s leveret was released today and Marie’s went a few days ago. They both have done really well to have reared them. They are usually such difficult creatures to rear. A fitting end to all the work that they have put into rearing such exquisite creatures.
Lisa is off for a few days but Polly has gone with her. She is much better but still very weak and needing extra TLC. Yet another example of how our staff and volunteers give up so much of their time to nurture these animals back to full health. We have a great team.
Emily & Marie have done a great job with the Leverets
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