And another ......................

During the freezing snowy weather this little otter cub was found close to water in a stack yard. She was taken in by the householders and had rather an exciting 5 days in their care ! She fell full length down a spiral staircase, was watched a bit too closely by the family dog and was fed on tuna steak and pilchards.
She began to look unhappy and thankfully I collected her for some tlc. I took her straight to the vets and she was re hydrated and given antibiotics.
I whizzed up some fish in a blender which she ravenously tucked into.
She needed some peace and quiet and I left her to rest in a warm shed with heat lamp and a warm fleece lined box. She had a fine set of teeth and was soon fuffing at me to keep my distance, she was soon on raw whole trout .

Her tail didn't look right and I took her for the vets to look at. Her tail had some kind of injury , either frost bite or trauma and she had to have an operation to remove the dead tissue. Mike Jones the vet loves otters and made a wonderful job of the procedure. I'd spoken to Ed Heap in the New Forest and he reassured us that a wild otter can manage with a shortened tail.
She soon came home and was tucked up safely again in the warm shed. She was on antibiotics and continued to eat well. He tail was dry, clean and healed well. I took her down to The Chestnut Centre once the snow had thawed and she is soon to join the others in the New Forest for rearing. Hopefully they will return in 2014 for release.

I've just released back 5 rta Tawnies and a Barn Owl all brought in after being found on road sides.
They must have been hunting for food in the hard weather and been clipped by cars. 2 more Tawnies and Little Owl didn't make it.

The over wintering hedgehogs are doing well, some eating still, others sleeping .
The days are getting longer so roll on some fine weather.