We are now well and truly into our busy Spring season, and we are seeing a lot of animals come through our doors. Our response drivers have been working hard to rescue and pick up sick and injured animals across our coverage area. Reception has been a hive of activity, with staff giving advice over the phone and coordinating recuses. And our dedicated animal carers have been bottle feeding orphans round the clock, while also caring for the other animals on site.
Marion feeding
One such orphan is Marion, a tiny two week old fox cub. She was found cowering by a shed in a garden, and was picked up by the home owners dog. Luckily she rescued her, and delivered her to us. When she arrived Marion was so young that her eyes were not yet open. Animal carer Dan has been bottle feeding her, and she is making a good recovery.
Fred and George
Two orphaned badger cubs also arrived this week. The pair were found 24 hours apart at an entrance of a badger sett, crying and calling for their mother. They were weak and close to starvation. At Secret World we like to have a theme when naming our orphaned badger cubs, and this year the theme is Harry Potter. So the obvious choice for our twin badger cubs was Fred and George, after the Weasley twins.
Pauline on BBC Somerset
We have had more radio interest as our charity founder and advisor Pauline appeared on a special show on BBC Somerset to mark their 30th birthday. We are proud of our connections with the local media, and they help us to promote what we do at the centre. It is also a good way to offer advice to members of the public on what to do if they find an injured animal. We enjoyed taking part in the show, and even received a piece of birthday cake!
This week we were delighted to welcome our patron Chris Sperring to the site. He gave a very interesting talk to staff and volunteers one lunchtime. Chris has wide experience of wildlife and conservation, and our team learnt a lot from his talk.
Finally, are you a budding photographer with a particular interest in nature? If so we have just the thing for you! Today we launch our photo competition, which will be judged by our patron Chris Packham. So get those cameras ready, and find out more details on the events section on our website.