Badger Cub

This little boar badger followed a dog walker early last Saturday morning in North Tyneside. They rang The Badger Trust for advice.
Lesley from Durham Badger Group went out to have a look.
She tried to return him to the nearest active sett. By now he was very tired and laid down and went to sleep , refusing to go to ground.
Lots of phone calls and conversations occured and we met up off the A19 and the cub came here for some rest and rehab.

He weighed 1646g and had tiny teeth so only just at the weaning stage. He would not take to a bottle so was rehydrated and left to rest in a warm pen under a heat lamp.
Various food items were left in the pen and he took to powdered esbilac milk with baby rusk and honey, they love sweet things.He also ate some tinned and soaked complete dog food.

He needed warmth and rest and good food.
He was taken for a blood test a couple of days later.
The protocol for hand reared badger cubs is to test them for tb 3 times, at least a month apart, and all tests must be negative before they are released in groups in late summer, early autumn. Cubs are given thier first test before introducing them to other orphan cubs for rearing. Badger cubs must be reared together as single cubs can imprint very easily on thier human carers and then cannot live the wild life they were intended for.

As expected his test was negative, we do not have tb in badgers in the north.
He needed badger company and there are very few trusted centres that can care for cubs in the right and proper way.
He went to the RSPCA wildldife hospital in Stapeley, Cheshire. They seemed to be a miserable lot when I arrived there, let's hope they care for the wildlife better than they treat the humans transpoerting them.
He should do well and will be housed with other cubs which makes all the difference.
It was a pleasure to have him here for a short while, badgers will always be special to me.

Peregrine Falcon

Ooh I love a big bird of prey.

This fine, male Peregrine was found sitting on a fence ,where he had been all night.He was taken into the vets at Beverely and brought here by a kind couple who also brought in a juv Tawny Owl.

They were both settled seperately in warm , quiet quarters after tube feeding.

The falcon had a proud wing with some swelling and heat on the elbow joint and was too quiet .

The juv Tawny was also thin and quiet and was left to rest.

The Peregine was rung with a metal bto ring and an orange darvik, quite unusual.

I rang the bto and they told me he was rung in the nest last year in Nottinghamshire.

He was soon eating but I was concerned about the wing and rang Andy Forsyth, vet at Strensall for some advice.

I took him in the following day where the bird was x rayed. There was no sign of shot , thank goodness and the elbow joint was not fractured.Andy is a very good experienced falconry vet, skillfull and realistic.

So home to rest with plenty of food and pain killers.

Keeping a wild bird of prey content and resting is often difficult, but we managed it.The swelling went down and the bird remained calm and he kept his feathers in good condition.

He stayed a fortnight and then went for release.

Nerve racking as I hoped he would fly well, I'd tried him in an avairy and he flew from perch to perch.

He flew low from the hand and improved the further he flew.He swooped up into a dark, quiet wood close to where he was found. I hoped he would rest there and gather his bearings.

The juv Tawny didn't do so well , he would not eat so was tube fed and went onto meat .

He seemed to be doing well but was found dead one morning in the I.C. box.

I have 11 Mallard ducklings under a heat lamp, eating, swimming and talking a lot !

The first baby garden bird is here, a juv Blackbird, very well and should have been left for his parents rear

but .........

The over wintered hedgehogs have gone I just wish it would rain, more food for them if it did.

Home Sweet Home.

This adult sow was found hiding under a car on the drive way of a rural house. She was collected by the RSPCA and taken to Battleflatts Vets ,Stamford Bridge.

After x rays and examination she came here for rest and rehabilitation. She had pusy infected ears, her eyes were sunk in her head from dehydration and she was far too compliant !
She was given antibiotics, lots of food and left to rest under a heat lamp.






She laid doggo for 2 days, eating all before her and sleeping rolled up in deep straw.
If left alone, fed well and unharassed badgers will switch off and heal well.
She was ready for release a week later.
 There was some stubborness on her part to enter the travelling box, but after some firm cajoling with a board she stepped in and was ready for travelling and release.

The kind householder that found her joined us in my car for a look round the area.
Badgers are very territorial and must be put back very close to where they are found. It was dusk with a bit of traffic still about.A field away from the original site was a lovely badger path leading into a scrubby dark wood.
As I lifted her in the box, she raised her head, drinking in the smell of home.
She stepped smartly out of the travelling cage before I had fully opened the door. She took off along the badger path at speed, for the familiarity of home.
Always the best bit of rehabilitation.

The first Mallard duckling is here along with a baby Robin, 2 juv Tawnies and a rta adult Tawny.

First baby bird of the year.

This young Tawny was found on a wood floor at Bransholme, Hull this week.

He had a wing measurement of 98mm making him about 3-4 weeks old.

The parent birds must have begun nesting in the dark, extremely cold days

of the New Year.

He is just too young to be a "brancher" and must have fallen out of the nest hole.

They come out of the nest shouting for food and are still unable to fly. If they fall out

they can and do climb back up with talons and bill. I don't think he would have managed to get back.

He should rear well and be released back once he is a strong flyer and has good adult flight feathers.

Deer make difficult paitents in rehab. They are extremely skittish, shy and very nervous.

This adult roe buck was crossing a busy road and was clipped by a car. A following mini bus driver kindly stopped as the deer was laid out thrashing wildly.

He picked him up and laid him among the seats, he had no passengers at the time. After arriving here we drove straight to the vets and after a listen to his chest and an examination of his fine slim legs we decided to give him a go.

I laid him in deep straw in a small shed with a heat lamp and left him to rest. He was concussed , had a bloody mouth and a deep gash to one leg but didn't look too bad, only time would tell. He remained calm and slightly dopey the next day, he had swelling to one side of his face but was on his keel and looking ok. I hoped he would stand and start to look more active.

The next day he could stand on his back legs but one of his front legs was loose and not right. 

The vet called again and the injury to the front leg was just too severe and he was quietly put to sleep. 

Some you win, some you loose.

Little Swimmer

This beautiful otter cub was found calling loudly in the middle of the day on the banks of the River Swale.
She followed the movement of a horse and rider.
The river was in flood, the banking was close to a busy road and a popular dog walking area.
We can only guess as to why she was alone.
She settled into a pen with fresh trout and a hidy hole.

She stayed a few days and I took her across to The Chestnut Centre in the High Peaks in Derbyshire.

They have a very good record and tailor made facilites for caring for otters.
She will travel on to the New Forest in the next couple of days to join 2 other cubs for her rehabilitation.
This superb close up photograph was taken by Helen Jones.
Mike Jones, her husband, is one of the vets at Battleflatts , Stamford Bridge, York.
I have worked with Mike over the years and he has always been kind and supportive.
They holiday in Scotland watching, Otter, Pine Martin and White Tailed Sea Eagle.
Helen has a web site, http://www.jonesvetphotography.co.uk/ where she displays her wildlife photographs.

It's been a hard week with a savage badger persecution incident.
I have seethed with anger and hatred but have at last settled down, it's not good to be that angry.
Caring for wildlife is not always easy but spring is round the corner and I look forward ................

Badger Sett Disturbance

This was an active badger sett until agricultural contractors set to work. This sett was badly damaged last March. It has taken this long to get them into court. Sadly the case was dismissed this week after a 2 day trial.

The magistrated decided that as the contractors didn't know it was a sett then they were not guilty for recklessly destroying it.

By more good luck than judgement one entrance was left open, so any remaining live badgers could get out.

Within a day or two the entrance was enlarged by the badgers and lots of footprints were visible.

This badger sett is still in active use with 5 active badger sett entrances.

Very disappointing to get a not guilty but hopefully an experience not to be repeated.

The weather has warmed up and a Mute Swan,3 Mallard ducklings,5 Tawny Owls, a Little Owl and a Barn Owl ate well here and were safe in avairies during the very hard weather. All are out now , back to where they should be.

The hedgehogs do well and some have continued to eat through the winter.

Winter Wonderland.

Thin Barn Owls are coming in. This female lived only a few hours after coming in from Thornton Le Dale.Local farmers are finding them weak and downed. An adult Barn Owl weighs approximately 300g this bird was only 211g . To loose a third of its body weight meant it would not survive, I tried with warm rehyration fluid, heat lamps etc.

The birds in the garden are eating all before them and we've had this covey of Red Legged Partridge.

They are normally quite shy but must be finding the conditions difficult too.

The rehabbed female Sparrowhawk is still calling for food now and again. She seems to like posing on the washing line.

The 3 Mallard ducklings are well gown with flight feathers coming through.  They don't seem to mind the snow, paddling about on water once I've cracked the ice. They can go once the weather yields a bit.

I've a Barn Owl in from Sledmere she had a broken wing. She's recovered , is flying and eating well and can go out once it warms up a bit.

A rta Tawny came in from Wigginton Road , York who is also ready for the off once the ground warms up a bit.

I've hedgehogs large and small snuggled up in deep straw, they'll be here till spring.

Looks like its going to be a long winter.