Getting Busier....

We are here to deal with any British wildlife in need of our help & we are available 24 hours a day for large mammals i.e. badgers, foxes & deer. A majority of these larger animals get into trouble during the hours of darkness as this is the time that they are most active although we might get one or two foxes or deer in the day time in the space of a week.

Thursday was, I hope, an exception to this as, during the day, one badger, 3 foxes, one feral pigeon, one woodpigeon, one song thrush, one collared dove and one roe deer were admitted to the Hospital! Five large mammals in a day!

We have certainly been busier so far this year than for the same period in previous years, and we have received many more calls than usual concerning the larger animals. We are also getting an increasing number of calls concerning mange in foxes again. The numbers seemed to be dropping but lately the numbers of foxes suffering from this nasty problem is on the increase again. These days mange is easily treatable with a drug put in food for the affected foxes and most people are happy to work with us to get rid of mange without putting the fox through the stress of catching it and bringing it back to the Centre to treat.

Left untreated, mange, which is caused by a mite burrowing under the skin, can often eventually kill the poor animal. The intense itching caused by the mites leads to non-stop scratching which eventually causes sores which then become infected. While all this is going on the fox doesn't manage to hunt properly and becomes emaciated, eventually either dying of starvation or of septicaemia.

Anyone who has seen an animal suffering from advanced mange will know just how much pain and suffering these microscopic mites can cause.