TREVOR WEEKS: Young birds and mammals are starting to get into trouble

So many wild animals and birds are getting into trouble at the moment. Young birds are starting to fledge and young mammals are starting to explore on their own or follow their mum around.
Cross In Hand ducklings SUS-180530-105522001Cross In Hand ducklings SUS-180530-105522001
Cross In Hand ducklings SUS-180530-105522001

As a result we are getting all sorts of incidents being reported.

I had to stop for a goose and two goslings on the A272 at Buxted just after 6am. These were the lucky ones though, unlike the mum and ducklings at Cross in Hand I was on my way to.

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I had received an emergency call shortly before from an emergency on-call doctor after they came across a dead female mallard duck and eight young on the A272 next to the petrol station at Cross-in-Hand.

I rushed across to find staff at the petrol station had made an enclosure out of bags of logs keeping them contained till he arrived. A huge thank you to the petrol station staff and the emergency doctor for stopping and helping to keep them safe till I arrived.

There is nothing worse than arriving to find they have disappeared or been run over.

I checked the ducklings over and placed in a large cage and drove them to WRAS’s casualty centre to join loads of other ducklings.

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Please drive carefully at this time of year as young wild animals and birds are about walking around leading young to water, grassing areas or moving home if disturbed. It might be night time and not many cars on the road or early morning and you think you can drive faster but could you stop in time if confronted with an animal round a corner? So please be careful and drive sensibly.

Over the weekend we admitted more than 37 young birds of various types and sizes. Our orphan rooms are really busy now and a big thank you to Katie, Karen, Stacey, Nicola and all the other volunteers for working so hard and doing such a grand job.

East Sussex WRAS received a call from Bexhill Wildlife Rescue last week raising concern about some fox cubs in a basement which was flooding. Unsure how to deal with the situation, they called WRAS.

Accompanied by rescuers Brian Russell and Jen Holloway, I attended on site. The cubs were inside a very small hole, but luckily were up high inside a cavity under the concrete stairs. It was going to be impossible to make the hole bigger and get them out.

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The original hole in the wall was for a small drainage pipe so there was no risk of the basement flooding to the point the cubs would drown. Using some building materials provided by the local residents a ramp was make to help the cubs exit the basement as they were quite mature and would be naturally following mum around at this age, but due to the depth of the basement they wouldn’t be able to get out till much older.

On leaving the cubs in Bexhill we received a call about a dog attacked fox cub in a garden in Hooe. It wasn’t long before we were on site. The poor fox was barely alive, unconscious and as a result of being violently shaken by a dog it had completely dislocated its spine. The cub was rushed to the nearest emergency vets and sadly euthanised.

Sunday night I rushed across to Burgess Hill to rescue a hedgehog with a breathing difficulties. On arrival we noticed than one of his eyes was damaged. A few fly eggs were removed as well. He was given emergency first aid and driven to WRAS’s casualty centre and bedded down in the intensive care unit. In the morning he was breathing better and certainly more comfortable.

The eye sadly is not repairable and will need a small surgical procedure to removing what is left. We will see how he does and he will either be released back to the wild or placed in our large walled garden in Bishopstone where he can live as if wild if not suitable for release where found.

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We have done really well with getting so many casualties back to the wild over the past few weeks. We currently have some of our long term pigeons cases outside and it is amazing to see how they have changed and are now flying after months in care.

Some have really surprised us but we gave them a chance and we are really pleased at how many are now going to be releasable as a result.

On Saturday we hope to be at the Wild About Mid Sussex in St John’s Park Burgess Hill between 10am and 4pm.

Also on Sunday we are at Uckfield Lion’s Fun Day at Luxford Field just off Uckfield High Street and Uckfield Tesco between 12:30 and 4pm.

Our trailer and gazebo will be present so come along and say hello.