tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-362421182024-03-13T18:43:49.414+00:00Diary of a Wildlife HospitalDaily life in one of the UK's largest wildlife hospitals.wildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-34553982905779676562010-05-12T18:23:00.002+01:002010-05-12T18:29:26.892+01:00NEW WEBSITEJust to let you know that, as we now have a brand new website at www.valewildlife.org.uk which has its own News Page, this Blog will not be updated very often.Vale News will be updated several times a week on the website & you can sign up to receive emails when news is posted.There is loads of information on the site as well as many photographs which will be changed & added to on a wildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-14789984588196475812010-04-16T19:17:00.002+01:002010-04-16T19:43:09.520+01:00New 'baby' season & new website!! Well, things are getting much busier now in the Hospital with several fox cubs, a badger cub, a nest of baby robins, fledgling blackbirds, baby rabbits and more coming in every day.If you want to keep up-to-date with what's going on, take a look (and join) our brand new website:http://www.valewildlife.org.uk/The site is easy to update so check back to it regularly to find out what's happening wildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-1970409238127700612010-03-27T20:01:00.002+00:002010-03-27T20:17:14.957+00:00Sorry folks, have been neglecting my readers!I know, I haven't posted on here for over a month now. I've been so busy at Vale that I just haven't had a chance to get on here. As well as this Blog, you can keep up-to-date with things on our Facebook Group so take a look at that too.Firstly, I must acknowledge & thank our anonymous donor who I have written about before. We had thought that his/her amazing support had come to an end as ourwildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-89876775171131820692010-02-22T13:03:00.000+00:002010-02-22T13:03:08.346+00:00Article appearing on The Guardian online todayVideo: Wildlife rescue centre suffers in recession | Environment | guardian.co.ukwildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-19187010697104516552010-02-16T18:21:00.002+00:002010-02-16T18:41:48.938+00:00What we could do with a lottery win....56 million pounds, the latest lottery windfall won by a Gloucestershire couple.It's very difficult not to sound bitter - I am not bitter, it is just so sad that so many, many charities struggle to raise enough money to continue their work, and in our line of work I have seen many people forced to give up helping sick and injured wildlife because of the effects of the recession, and people win wildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-12586253188874322422010-01-30T19:51:00.002+00:002010-01-30T20:00:58.530+00:00Pet food appealIt's January, the quietest month of the year at Vale, but we are getting through around 600 tins of dog & cat food every single week! 90 hedgehogs plus foxes, gulls & corvids are all responsible for devouring so many tins.Our shelves are almost empty & having to buy so much food at a time of year when fundraising is the hardest is draining our meagre rescources. Please help by sendingwildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-56095289493105748302010-01-07T14:20:00.003+00:002010-01-07T14:30:44.624+00:00Winter wildlifeGive a thought to our poor wildlife in this freezing weather. We have had 2 call-outs so far today:The first was to a cygnet in Pershore, sitting on ice looking decidedly unwell where it had been since at least the night before. I am surprised it survived the freezing night time temperatures. Our vet checked it over, its temperature was over 4 degrees lower than normal & it was very lethargicwildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-91352623040093142442009-12-18T20:00:00.002+00:002009-12-18T20:14:58.445+00:00Hedgehogs, hedgehogs & more hedgehogs.Although the winter months are the quietest of the year for wildlife casualties, we are still kept very busy with dozens of underweight hedgehogs. Our Small Mammal Room is full of them at the moment, & a large part of the day is spent cleaning out, feeding & giving medications to our prickly friends. Hedgehogs are very prone to all sorts of infections & they invariably end up on wildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-21188796760529193362009-11-16T11:28:00.003+00:002009-11-16T11:42:43.380+00:00Another year almost over.Things in the Hospital have now become much quieter, which is normal for the approach of winter. All the staff here can now breath a sigh of relief & take things a bit easier now the spring & summer rush has finished for another year.Although the numbers of most species coming in has greatly reduced, we are still taking in a large number of hedgehogs but again, it is normal for us to havewildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-34978416244573780832009-10-31T21:01:00.002+00:002009-10-31T21:12:10.497+00:00Ozzy on AutumnwatchI don't know how many of you watch Autumnwatch Unsprung, but if you were watching last night you would have seen Ozzy the skunk live on national TV. We arrived at the studios about two & a half hours before we went on (don't quite know why we had to be so early) & everyone wanted to see her so she spent all that time lapping up all the attention. She behaved impecably......until Kate wildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-83057391693899073192009-10-28T19:13:00.002+00:002009-10-28T19:31:46.204+00:00Otter cub progressBecoming attached to a wildlife casualty is not supposed to happen, & most of the time we manage this just fine. But ocassionally, along comes an animal which just gets to you. Our little otter cub is one of those heartbreakers.When he first came in he seemed to be fit & well. For the first week he made brilliant progress, no problems with feeding him, he put on loads of weight & wentwildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-35491760464567338862009-10-18T20:19:00.003+01:002009-10-18T20:50:13.926+01:00How's this for cuteness??Today's helping of the aaah factor is brought to you by this gorgeous, six week old otter cub. He was brought in a few days ago by the RSPCA after being found out alone near Worcester. He is perfectly healthy & is feeding really well - being bottle fed every 4 hours during the day & the tiny needles that he has for teeth have started to get through small pieces of trout (as well as my wildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-55918791490431623512009-09-27T20:58:00.002+01:002009-09-27T21:06:48.865+01:00Another otter in........but not such a happy ending.Today the RSPCA brought in another male otter. Before he arrived we had been told that he was not using his hind legs which is usually bad news. Spinal damage is the first thing that goes through our minds when we hear this.When he was brought in I could see straight away that his back looked unnaturally arched & I had a feeling that his x-rays were going to wildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-21109796561949582532009-09-08T18:49:00.001+01:002009-09-08T18:52:05.737+01:00Swimming with humpback whales!Fancy a week in the Caribbean, swimming with humpback whales & helping with research into them?A friend of ours, Dr Ruth Searle, marine biologist & writer, is looking for volunteers prepared to pay to help with her research into these beautiful creatures in February/March 2010 in Silver Bank, off the coast of the Dominican Republic. You will collect data, take fluke ID photos, operate wildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-75160271875956372632009-09-06T18:55:00.011+01:002009-09-06T19:53:43.116+01:00Nearing the end of a busy seasonToday the last of our fox cubs were taken out to their release pen where they will stay for a week before being released into the wild. We have successfully reared & released 26 cubs this year & will have to wait until next March or April for it to start all over again.The last cubs leaving here always seems to be a landmark for us at Vale - it marks the end of another busy spring & wildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-83199401997595477942009-08-21T19:21:00.002+01:002009-08-21T19:50:26.790+01:00Not a good day todayIt was just one of those days today. Some days are really good, and you finish the day feeling that you have made a real difference. Other days, like today, you feel quite down and you wonder if there is really any point in battling all these problems us 'wonderful' humans cause to wildlife.A beautiful hobby was brought in today, very small and pretty birds of prey that we rarely see. Sadly, she wildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-57076469540521971182009-08-09T11:13:00.002+01:002009-08-09T11:22:45.274+01:00Snared badger releasedA badger, brought in by the RSPCA several weeks ago after being caught round his middle in a snare, was released last night. The 115 mile round trip to take him back to his territory was well worth it as it was obvious that he knew exactly where he was as soon as we arrived there & wasted no time in racing off along a well-used badger path.When he arrived at Vale he was in a mess, the snare wildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-5095714433072529982009-08-04T16:31:00.006+01:002009-08-04T16:55:20.431+01:00Ozzy updateOzzy the skunk is still with us & she is doing really well. She's put on loads of weight & loves being picked up & fussed. She'd spend all day being carried round if we let her - trouble is we don't get much work done when she's out, she's very distracting, & unbelievably cute!! About 70 hedgehogs in at the moment, mainly youngsters & about three quarters of them are now on wildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-13920037460166580482009-07-25T20:34:00.000+01:002009-07-25T20:35:35.140+01:00More support from our mystery benefactor.I just wanted to thank, once again, our mystery anonymous donor, who has now given Vale the amazing total of £6,220 since December 2008. We would love to know who you are, to be able to thank you in person & to let you know exactly how much your generosity has helped countless wild animals in these tough times.wildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-64105714472005856742009-07-21T18:24:00.007+01:002009-07-21T19:22:38.255+01:00Still busyWe are well into July, usually our busiest month of the year for casualty numbers and we are certainly very busy with a large number of birds in particular being brought in. Many, many catted fledgling birds and sadly too many coming in much too late for antibiotics to do any good. If a bird has been caught by a cat, even if there are no obvious injuries, they must receive life-saving antibiotic wildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-69507763980415263762009-07-15T21:19:00.001+01:002009-07-15T21:22:44.220+01:00Video clip of our otter.Video clip of the otter being fed this afternoon. Still making great progress & we are hoping he will be released in a couple of days. He certainly enjoys his trout!!Click the link below.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QmvKCMd1hQwildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-62554796869717904172009-07-14T21:41:00.004+01:002009-07-14T21:48:38.787+01:00Otter making progressSupper time - taken tonight. wildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-54532557771319881872009-07-13T19:12:00.004+01:002009-07-13T19:36:06.537+01:00Otter updateThe otter that was brought in by the RSPCA on Saturday was x-rayed this morning and I for one was not looking forward to the results. Anaesthetising him to allow us to position him for the picture is a mammoth task in itself as otters are probably one of the most difficult species of British wildlife to handle. They have an incredibly nasty bite, they cannot be picked up by the scruff, as we wildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-19503245706649903412009-07-12T21:00:00.004+01:002009-07-12T21:31:29.116+01:00Beautiful creature....Following on from the excitement of having 3 peregrines in in just one week, when we seldom see them, another rarity for Vale Wildlife yeaterday was a beautiful adult male otter.The RSPCA brought him in from Frampton-on-Severn in Gloucestershire where he had sadly been hit by a car the previous evening. He had obviously sustained a blow to one side of his head & his shoulder area, although wildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36242118.post-21734260174804440682009-06-12T12:46:00.002+01:002009-06-12T12:51:50.769+01:00Peregrine photosHere are a few of the photos that we took while examining the young peregrine from Worcester.wildliferescuerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03522659918329007384noreply@blogger.com0