Spring Newsletter 2013

Spring Newsletter 2013
Rescuing one animal may not change the world but for that one animal its life
will be changed forever….
In this spring edition of our newsletter you will find:
• Details for our new “club 100”
• The release of our fallow fawn
• Casualties and rescues
British Wildlife Rescue Centre, Amerton Farm, st18 0la, 01889 271308
Recent rescues and casualties.
In the last few months we have started to get busier, we have been going out on lots of rescues and
have more casualties in the hospital.
Birds of prey!
This time of year we always find that we get lots of birds of prey admitted, normally due to
exhaustion from the lack of food which is available to them at this time of year. We also think that
with all the rain that has come down over the last few months and flooding being a problem that a
lot of small mammals have suffered thus causing even less food for the birds than normal.
Over the last month alone we have had 2 tawny owls, 2 buzzards and a barn owl. All of these have
now been released other than one of the buzzards which sadly had to be put to sleep due to a
broken wing that was too badly damaged.
Squirrel in a tangle!
The week before Christmas, just when we thought that we were having a quiet day, we noticed
that a lady carrying a large washing up basket was heading down the path towards us. We went
out to open the gate for her to find that inside this basket going completely crazy was an adult
grey squirrel that had somehow gotten tangled up in barbed wire. The brave lady who had got
bitten in the process had managed to cut it away from the fencing but needed our help to
actually free the animal from the rest of the wire. We took the basket into our treatment room
and found the best gloves we could find to at least try and give us some protection! We gently
pinned her to the table and after a good look found that the wire was wrapped around her back
leg was luckily just tangled only around her fur and hadn’t cut into her skin! We managed to cut
her free and put her back into the basket without anyone receiving any bites! She was a very
very lucky squirrel as we see lots of animals that suffer very serious injuries from barbed wire.
Swans.
The centre receives around 20 swans every year at the centre, they come in for various reasons but
the main cause is crash landings! mostly when the ground is wet (which happens a lot in this country
from all the rain!) they try to land as when they see the wet roads from above it makes them look
like canals and lakes, so often they will crash land and then are unable to take back off from the
road. This is when our assistance is needed, we get lots of calls from members of public and the
police asking us to go and help them get the swans from the road. Luckily most are ok and are able
to be relocated onto the nearest water source but sometimes they do need extra care at the centre
as their legs can sometime bruise from the impact of hitting the road or they are tired and are in
need of a few days food and rest.
One day in January we had a call from a gentleman that said he had a swan in his garden lying on
the lawn appearing very weak. It happened that he lived close to one of our off duty volunteers so
she was called and agreed to go and have a look. The swan was weak and needed to be brought into
the centre for treatment. Sometimes we do have to improvise; normally when we go out to a swan
rescue we would take a “swan bag” which allows us to transport swans safely but without one- as
you can see in the picture below -the volunteer was able to create something similar with some
towels and sticky tape so she could bring it into the hospital safely. Wildlife has a tendency not to
wait and you sometimes have to improvise the best you can!
A sad day at the centre.
Working with wildlife is very rewarding but it would be unrealistic to say that everything
survives , sometimes the most beautiful of animals has an injury that is far to severe to help and
it can be very sad. Our latest example of this is regarding a very tiny baby badger that we picked
up in February. A dog had found it in the garden and carried up to the house where the startled
owners gave us a call, we went straight out to collect it. On arrival we saw instantly that the cub
had bite marks on her back, a deep cut on her leg and damage to her belly, she was around 5
days old with only a dusting of fur and eyes and ears tightly shut. We rushed her straight to the
vets who said that the bite on her leg was serious and a dark lump was appearing on her
stomach, which we took for internal damage. We got her back to the centre and gave her a
bottle of milk and rehydration solution which she took well, and was put on a warm heat pad for
her to snuggle on and appeared to have lots of fight in her. Sadly as the hours went on she grew
weaker and died in the early hours of the morning, she did have internal damage and there was
nothing more we could have done. Sometimes nature takes it into its own hands, and to see an
animal as beautiful as the badger make it to only a few days old is incredibly sad.
Sadly despite extensive research and advice from scientists
and other wildlife centres, the government have still decided
to ‘trial’ a badger cull. It is not to late to sign the petition and
every signature helps.
Please go to www.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/38257
and fill in your details.
Let’s help to save one of Britain’s most beautiful creatures!
The release of our fallow fawn!
You may have seen the little fawn on your visit at the centre and this is her story.
Late last September we received a very young Fallow deer fawn at the centre, her story was a little
vague but a gentleman had found her at the side of the road and a vets had directed him to bring her
to us. For September she very young and we have since learned that occasionally when they are born
later in the year the herd will move and young ones can get left behind, this is what we think had
happened to this little lady. She was very hungry and underweight so we fed her on goat’s milk.
Sometimes when young animals have not been with their mum for a few days they can forget how to
suckle and she didn’t take to the bottle at all. We left her with the milk in a bowl next to her and she
happily drank it that way. She quickly started to put on weight and started to eat a wide variety of food
such as greenery that was gathered for her, fresh fruit, rabbit food and her favourite was corn on the
cob!
Normally we release our fawns around September but this is when we receive them earlier in the year,
we knew that we couldn’t release her until the spring as she would have very limited food to eat out in
the wild and she stayed with us until early march when the time came for her release! She was
purposely not handled or made hand tame ensuring a successful release.
It took three of us to catch her up and she was incredibly strong! We quickly managed to get her and
carry her to the van where we sat with her for the journey making sure that she was safe and calm. We
let her go as soon as we got to our destination and it was amazing to see her go! The sun was shining
and before we lost sight of her she turned and looked at us and then she bounded away. It could not
have been more perfect. With luck she will soon catch up with the herd and go on to have her own
fawns in the wild. Result!
The picture below shows her when we first had her in September and just before we released her in
March.
We Love the fact that we can use a whole page just to say THANK YOU to
all you guys that help and support us!
The big donate!
Just after Christmas we had a call from a lady saying that her two little lads Joshua, aged 6 and his
brother Lucas, aged 4 had been collecting items for the animals and would like to bring them in for
us. That afternoon the family came down to the gate and asked for a hand with the presents, we
could not believe when we got to the car that the boot was completely full and they were all for the
centre! They had collected tins of cat meat, biscuits, milk, mealworms, handmade suet feeders for
the birds, rabbit food, lots of treats for the other small animals, newspapers, toys for the foxes and
even a box full of scrapers, gloves, bin bags and other brilliant items! There were so many boxes that
we piled them high in the hospital and they stood as tall as Joshua and Lucas! They had amazingly
encouraged school to get involved too and had asked friends and family to join in. We were over
whelmed with the amount of present’s the centre received, they were all wrapped up in boxes
labelled ‘a present for a hedgehog’ or ‘for a rabbit that needs a home’ .Their mum Stacy said that the
lads spent all Christmas eve wrapping up the boxes for the centre. We can’t believe the generosity of
such young lads and can’t thank you both enough! Also a huge thank you to St.Augustines Catholic
primary school for getting involved!
We have had an amazing response to our wish list and would like to give a huge Thank you to
everybody who has donated an item to us! By supplying us with these items which many we use on
a daily basis you are helping to keep the running costs of the centre down.
We have received all of the items listed on the next page which we are very thankful for:
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Hand held steam cleaner
Terumo needles
Large metal rabbit run
Insulin syringes and needles
100 5ml syringes
100 1ml syringe’s
12 x cat meat pouches
To find our Amazon Wish list go to www.amazon.co.uk click on ‘wish lists’ and then type in BRITISH
WILDLIFE RESCUE CENTRE to find us!
Also a huge Thank you to:
Mr and Mrs Williamson, who wash and dry our smelly laundry, if anybody
has ever smelt a towel once a hedgehog has slept in it then you will know
this isn’t a very nice job!
Gill the shredder, who collects newspapers and shreds them all so we have clean paper to use for
animal bedding.
Marie and Martin, who have provided us with lots of items for the animals and lots of lovely
tombola prizes.
How you can help us at the hospital and things we need
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We desperately need clean towels and newspapers
For the animals in the Hospital, especially with the
Orphan season looming!
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Taking a look at our Amazon wish list
Following us on Facebook and help to raise the awareness of the centre by liking and
sharing www.facebook.com/thebwrc
Did you know that just by agreeing to have our newsletter emailed to you will help to keep
our costs down as it will save on postage and printing costs? If this is something that you are
interested in then please send an email to [email protected] with ‘ bwrc newsletter’ in the
subject line and please include your name and address in the email.
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The more people that we can get on board the better as again this will help to keep our running
costs down! Thank you to all that have already joined our mailing list!
News, news and more news
Percy pigs new house!
Those of you that have visited the centre may be familiar with ‘Percy Pig’ our large collection box. He
collects lots of pennies for us all year round, in all weathers and has never once moaned. So to say
thank you for all his hard work we have brought him his own little house! As I am typing this he has
currently gone away to have his yearly ‘make over’ where he has his paint touched up and his
trotters trimmed and will be back in no time, inside his new lovely, dry house!
The guinea pig house
Next to Percy’s house you will also see our New Guinea pig pen which we are delighted with. So
please come and visit soon to see the new additions! Building and repair is an on-going task at the
centre so we have already got our sights on the next project to be done!
Sad loss at the centre
It has not been a very lucky start to the centre this year with the sad loss of two of our permanent
residents Fred the buzzard and Pukekura the Peregrine Falcon.
Fred: Our oldest resident who has been with us at the centre for the best part of 20 years, Fred was
in fact 30 when he died of old age in December. He came to the centre as a retired falconry bird
when his owner could no longer keep him and he has lived with us ever since. He was such a loving
character and was adored by volunteers and visitors alike. We all miss him very much but we are
happy that we know he had a long and happy life with us here.
Pukekura or ‘pookie’ Pookie died in January and was a complete shock to us as she had shown no
signs of ill health. She was a stunning bird and a favourite with Mr.Hardy the centres owner. She
came to us with a medical condition called Bumble Foot which is a bacterial infection on the birds
feet. Her current owner couldn’t keep up with the vets bills and asked us if we would be willing to
take her on. That was around 6 years ago and she lived with us until she died. Just like Fred she will
be dearly missed. As Pookie was an imprinted bird, at feeding times she would make a VERY loud call
until she got her dinner and now it is not quite the same without her!
It’s a muddy time at the centre!
I am sure that if you have visited the centre in the last few months that you have noticed our ‘muddy
areas!’ We have received some comments regarding the mud and would like to say that plans are in
place to try and remove it. Sadly with the terrible weather we had last year the centre did badly
flood several times where animals had to be moved for their own safety. At one point volunteers
were wading in water that was up to their knees!
As you can imagine it has left us with some rather large muddy areas where there was once lovely
green grass.
As we can’t involve any machinery to clear the areas for us due to the stress on the animals, it is a
job that has to be done the old fashioned way with a wheelbarrow and shovel!
We have three large areas that need clearing and it’s a mammoth job, especially when we are low
on volunteers and although we women don’t like to admit it we do need some man power here
occasionally!
Can anybody help us?
We are looking for volunteers to help us clear these areas as it desperately needs doing and there
simply aren’t enough of us. If you can spare anytime at all, even if it’s to just move a few wheel
barrows full of mud then please do get in touch with us on 01889 271308 and ask to speak to Dawn
or Abby.
No it’s not a glamorous job or one to one with the animals but the result of this finished will be so
great to us. So please even if it’s just an hour of your time. We have an endless supply of biscuits and
tea to say thank you and the animals would be delighted to have their dry areas back!
A picture of when we flooded
How it looked before the flood!
The British Wildlife Rescue Centre 100 Club
We invite you to join the British Wildlife Rescue Centre 100 Club!
This gives you the opportunity to support the BWRC with very little effort and a good opportunity
to win a monthly prize for yourself!
Club members pay £24 per for 12 months to be entered into a monthly draw for prizes of
£50 and £25!!
The draw will take place on the first Sunday of each month and the winner will be contacted
immediately.
Membership payment may be made by cheque yearly, by Bankers Standing Order or by PayPal.
We do appreciate that you must receive many requests for charitable donations. Why not share a
membership with family or friends, or better still, buy more than one membership as a syndicate
and increase your chances of winning?
For the equivalent of £2 per month you will be entered into a monthly draw with the chance to
win cash prizes!!
If you would like to join the BWRC 100 club, please complete the application form and return it to
the BWRC along with your chosen method of payment or you can register online and pay via
PayPal at www.thebwrc.com
(Please don’t send cash via the post)
All funds not paid out in prizes will go directly to the running costs of the BWRC.
RULES
1) The name of the Club will be The British Wildlife Rescue Centre 100 CLUB.
2) A year’s membership will cost £24.. Other memberships are NOT Available.
3) Payments must be made by cheque, cash or PayPal.
4) Numbers will be entered into the first available draw following receipt of payment (i.e. when cheque has cleared
or payment has been made by your bank).
5) In the event payment is found not to have been made for any reason for the relevant month any prize will be
forgone and redrawn, continued non - payment will result in the membership being cancelled.
6) A draw will be held on the first Sunday of each month.
7) The draw will take place at The British Wildlife Rescue Center and will be witnessed by 2 persons, at least 1
shall not be a member of the club.
8) Records will be kept of the persons making and witnessing the draw along with the prize winners. These
records can be made available for inspection to Club members by prior appointment. NB - Only members
names will be disclosable all other personal and banking data will be held securely by the charity under the
terms of the Data Protection Act.
9) Winners will be notified by e-mail or phone ASAP after each draw and payment of prizes will be made by
cheque within 14 days of the draw.
10) Lists of winners, (names and town of residence only - i.e. Mark Jones from Birmingham), will be published in
newsletters and displayed on the BWRC notice board and Facebook page. (www.facebook.com/thebwrc)
11) Draw number will be allocated at random.
12) If we are unable to recruit 100 members, we will continue from 75 with no changes to prize money,
13) Purchasing a membership in the club will be taken as acceptance of all Club Rules.
THE BRITISH WILDLIFE RESCUE CENTRE
Amerton Farm, Stowe by Chartley, Staffordshire, ST18 0LA
(on the A518 Stafford to Uttoxeter Road)
tel : 01889 271 308
website: www.thebwrc.com
email : [email protected]
If you wish to purchase a membership of the British Wildlife Rescue Centre
100 Club, please complete and return this form to us at the above address.
The British Wildlife Rescue Centre 100 Club membership application
I would like become a member of the British Wildlife Rescue Centre’s 100 Club
Name (BLOCK CAPITALS)
Address
Postcode
Email address: (if provided email will be used as the preferred means of contact)
Tel number:
I prefer to pay my £24 annual membership by cheque / cash /PayPal
(Please do not send us cash in the post)
I confirm that I have read and accept the Club rules.
Signed
Dated.
Please note that it is one form per applicant.
For office use:
Date Received
Number allocated
Join us at the wildlife centre this Easter Sunday and Monday for lots of fun!
Take part in a free Easter quiz, tombola, games and you might even get the
chance to get up close and personal with one of our resident animals in our
‘animal encounters’ (times for animal encounters will be displayed at the
centre on the day)
Admission prices are normal at: £2.50 adult’s £2.00 children 3 and under are
FREE and feed the birds for 30p. All money goes to the running of the centre.
You can also enjoy watching Ferret racing on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the
holidays on the main farm court yard for your chance to win a rosette if you
are chosen as a special ‘ferret owner’ only 20p a bet or FREE if you just want
to watch.
Other dates for your diary!
Friday 17th May at Ashmole Social Club, Hammerwich- Holding a charity quiz and all proceeds go to
The British Wildlife Rescue Centre!
Every Tuesday and Thursday from 28th may in the summer holidays come along and watch the
Ferret racing!
17th July find us at Morrison’s in stone on one of our collection days.
We constantly update our information on our Facebook page so
please LIKE to find out all the latest updates! www.facebook.com/thebwrc
Once LIKED you will be able to see our competition to win a year’s sponsorship of one of our
resident animals!
Hedgehog release sites needed!
We have quite a few hedgehogs at the centre that are now ready to be released
and we need a few new release sites so please, if you are interested in having one
of these wonderful animals in your garden and you meet the requirements below
then give us a call at the centre on 01889 271308 and ask to speak to Dawn or
Abby.
Requirements are:
• NOT on a busy road
• NO deep-sided ponds
• NO USE of slug pellets or other chemicals
• NOT in a badger area
• NOT a totally enclosed garden
If you think you may have a suitable garden release site please contact the Centre
on 01889 271 308 and ask for Dawn or Abby.
With the warm weather hopefully on the way this normally starts our busiest time of the year
with hundreds of orphan birds and animals been brought into us. If you do have any concerns
regarding any wildlife please give us a call
British Wildlife Rescue Centre
Amerton Farm, Stowe-by-Chartley,
01889 271308
Caring for all injured and orphaned
wildlife