Just so busy...

I hadn't realised it's been so long since I posted on here. It's been so busy at the Hospital I just haven't had the time to write.

We are now mid-way through our part time Wildlife First Aid & Rehabilitation course, which is going well with 17 students this time (we usually have a maximum of 15).

We will shortly be running courses actually at Vale as we are in the process of installing a temporary classroom which should be ready in a few weeks. This will tide us over until we can raise the £400,000 we need to build the Vale Wildlife Education & Training Centre next door to the Hospital.

At the moment we can only run the course from a local college once a year but we would like to be able to accommodate many more people interested in learning the basics of wildlife rehabilitation.

Our patient numbers are way up on last years & we are urgently seeking volunteer drivers from all areas who are willing to pick up small casualties from local areas surrounding their home & bring them to the Hospital. We are getting loads of calls from people who have found a casualty but are unable to get it to us.

If you can help us out with this please get in touch.

We now have 13 fox cubs in total, dozens of baby & young birds to feed, we have just taken in 3 tawny owl chicks & we are dealing with a huge increase in the number of deer coming in, mainly because of road traffic accidents....... & we haven't even got to the busiest time of year yet!!!

If you want to help us raise much-needed funds please organise a fundraiser of your own - arrange a Coffee Morning or jumble sale, think up a novelty sponsored event, run a marathon or come & help us at our weekly car boot sale, in our Charity Shop or at another fundraising event. If you want to help, we want to hear from you.

Lastly, for the moment, a plea from all wildlife hospitals:

• If you find a fledgling (a youngster, fully feathered apart from probably having a very stubby tail!) bird, do not immediately assume it has been abandoned or orphaned & pick it up. Most birds, when they first leave the nest, cannot fly well, if at all, but spend most of their time on the ground or in low bushes & branches, practicing their flight but are still fed by their parents. They should be left alone. If you have a cat, keep it in at this time of year as much as possible.
• Fawns (young deer) are left alone sometimes for many hours, while the mum goes off to feed. Do not go near them, but leave them alone.
• Fox cubs which appear to be abandoned are usually fine. Please seek advice from us or a similar organisation before interfering.
• IF YOU ARE UNSURE OF WHAT TO DO, PLEASE CONTACT US OR YOUR LOCAL WILDLIFE HOSPITAL / WILDLIFE RESCUE CENTRE.