Wild Things Res-Q. Wiltshire Wildlife Hospital Registered Charity Number: Summer Winterbourne Brownies Page 2

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1 Wild Things Res-Q Wiltshire Wildlife Hospital Registered Charity Number: Summer 2005 Winterbourne Brownies Page 2 Annual Bikers food run from Chippenham Page 2 Collections and Releases Pages 3, 4 & 5 Volunteer profile Page 5 Donations & Requests Page 6 Events Page 7 Local and Member Adverts Page 8 Second Annual Open Day 10am to 4pm Sunday 21 August It hardly seems possible but it is almost a whole year since we held our first Annual Open Day. It is though, and the co-ordinators, Barbara Westerberg and Geoff Gray, are working hard preparing for this year s big day on 21 August. It promises to be even bigger and better than last year with lots more attractions and more for the kids! Our new patron, Reg Presley, is hoping to be with us on the day after travelling back from a Saturday night appearance in the north of England. We will also have representatives from the local press with us to help us publicise our new name. The very popular and successful Auction will make a welcome return at 1pm and new for this year will be a Car Boot Sale starting at 10am. The Plant Sale will take place throughout the day. The ever-popular Tombola, Raffle and Lucky Dip stalls will also be there, as will stalls selling books, cakes and handmade wildlife cards. Joining us this time will be the Cats Protection League, the Dogs Trust, the Winterbourne Brownies and the gorilla protection charity, the Dianne Fossey Foundation. One thing we learnt from last year was that we needed to provide more entertainment for the children and so new for this year will be tractor and trailer rides, face painting, splat the rat, archery, mini-golf and a bouncy castle. For those intending to start the day with the car boot sale and stay for the auction, I am sure you will be pleased to hear that there will also be refreshments and a BBQ. We look forward to seeing as many of our members as possible, so do please come along and lend us your support. If you would like to help with the preparations on the two days before the Open Day, you would be very welcome indeed. We will need to cut the grass, lay out the stalls, erect the marquee and generally tidy up so if you would like to help please contact Geoff Gray on for more details. We look forward to seeing you there!

2 Wild Things Res-Q Page 2 Brownies float like butterflies You may recall that the Winterbourne Brownies were our Name the Charity competition winners Bikers prove to be real angels The annual motorcycle food run from Chippenham to Newton Tony took place on 9 July. It was a very hot day and this may have been why even more bikers than ever before arrived with their panniers filled with donated food for the hospital. To see 80+ bikes arriving at the hospital was quite a remarkable sight. Last year, the bikers were unable to come right up to the hospital, as we did not have enough space at Allington to accommodate them all. However, now we have moved to Newton Tony, we have plenty of space for them to park all the bikes, well away from the animals. We even managed to put on a BBQ, which proved to be very popular indeed. Once again, we saw the exceptional sight of these big-hearted bikers, complete with full leathers and tattoos, going all doe-eyed over the baby And Ninny Noon comes too Our resident fox, Mr Ninny Noon, who cannot be returned to the wild after suffering brain damage, has moved with us to Newton Tony. He seems to relish his new surroundings especially as he now has an outdoor area in which he can roam. He Cuckoo clocked under a shed Ken Coombes is currently looking after a Cuckoo fledgling, which was spotted under a shed in the garden of a house in Seend. It is quite a forward fledgling but needs just a little bringing on. Not that his attitude needed any bringing on! He aggressively tried to chase you away whenever anyone went to feed him. That was until Mike gave him some grubs from his beehive. The change was remarkable; Mr Angry suddenly earlier in the year. We are pleased to say that the girls have continued to be involved with us and in June they used us as their theme for their float in the Winterbourne Fete carnival procession. The girls dressed up as various animals including deer, badgers, rabbits and butterflies on their fantastic Wild Things Res-Q float. As you can see in the photograph alongside they really did us proud and our grateful thanks go to them all. We will be presenting the girls with their Wildlife Fact Files prize at the Open Day and we very much hope that Reg Presley will be there to do the honours for us. hedgehogs! Our sincere thanks go to the Mid Wiltshire Motorcycle Action Group, the Wild Roses and all the bikers from Bath, Trowbridge and Bradford on Avon who not only brought all the food but also had a whip-round raising a marvellous 221, which with Gift Aid increases to 282. loves the company of our regular volunteers and he even gets on with resident cockerel, Rocky. We don t think we ll ever see them curled up together but if we do we ll let you know. became Mr Thank-you-very-much-bring-me-more.

3 Page 3 Wild Things Res-Q Masked burglar turns out to be a badger! Police called out on a emergency 999 call to a house in Swindon town centre found that the masked burglar reported to be at the scene was a badger! The badger had entered the house via a cat-flap and made its way upstairs where he curled up for a snooze in an airing cupboard. When he awoke at 1am, he headed for a bedroom and it was here that an eagle-eyed neighbour spotted what she thought was a masked burglar at the window. The badger was, in fact, looking for a way to break out and although he threw himself at the first floor window luckily it didn t break. Having heard a noise upstairs the householder and her neighbour were very reluctant to go upstairs so they nervously waited for the police to arrive. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall when the police entered the room! The police officer who Bertie from Bassett So far this year we have had five badger cubs come into the hospital. Unfortunately, two were too poorly and did not survive but the remaining three are doing well. Bertie came in from Wootton Bassett, Connie was a local cub but it was Colin from Blunsdon that gave us the most cause for concern as he had internal bleeding. Marilyn and the team pulled out all the stops and eventually he pulled through. All three cubs are now at Secret World in Somerset where they have the facilities to rehabilitate badger cub groups prior to their release at a safe site. Fox cubs on three hourly feeds It has been a very busy year again for fox cubs including a single litter of five from Odstock. We had fifteen in the hospital in just a matter of a few weeks. Luckily, when the three hourly feeding got a little too much to cope with, we had contacts that were able to share the workload. Three went to volunteer friends in the New Forest. The other three went to HART, another local animal rescue organisation who hand-reared them before returning them to us when it was time to start their rehabilitation. All the fox cubs have now gone to outdoor pens at West Hatch in Somerset. They will stay in these pens as a temporary measure prior to them moving to a soft release site. We would very much like to set up our own outdoor rehabilitation pens and we certainly have plenty of discovered the intruder said that she thought the badger looked injured and dazed so she called the Swindon & District Animal Haven in Wootton Bassett. They arranged to collect the badger and take him to a vet for treatment before transferring him to us. The story featured in many of the national and local papers because it is pretty unusual for a badger to enter a house, especially in the middle of a city. The weather had been very dry and as a badger s normal diet of worms is in short supply when the ground is hard, maybe his quest for food made him risk going into unfamiliar territory, streetlights and all! The papers reported that the badger was a sixmonth old cub but in fact, he is a rather elderly badger with many scars and very few teeth. Bertie & Connie space to accommodate them. Unfortunately, building the pens is a very expensive business. You need very high quality mesh, designed to keep predators, especially rats, out of the pens, which is not cheap. We will, however, be looking to build up enough funds to facilitate this development in the near future. The hospital stands on a fabulous piece of land, which provides a wonderful habitat for many species of birds, mammals and butterflies (Marilyn reports seeing Common Blue, Red Admiral, Purple Harestreak, Painted Lady, Skippers, Marble White and Garden Tiger Moths). We really want to make the land work for us but also benefit our indigenous wildlife as well as our rescued wildlife.

4 Wild Things Res-Q European Eagle Owl visits the New Forest Our strangest call out this year came from a woman in Redlynch on the edge of the New Forest. She reported that an owl had been hanging around her garden for the last week looking very sorry for itself. Marilyn asked her to drape a towel over it, gather it up and put it into a box. She offered to pick it up a little later on that day. The woman said she was a bit nervous because it was quite big. Marilyn reassured her that it was probably a Long Eared Owl, which is slightly larger than a Tawny. She explained that when its feathers were all fluffed up they do look much bigger than they really are. The woman kindly did as was requested and Marilyn duly turned up to collect it. She opened the box and was met by a pair of huge orange eyes and immediately apologised to the woman. It was a European Eagle Owl, which stands Roe deer kids The first two male roe deer kids of the summer came in from Southampton where they were found next to their dead mother. Deer are very nervous animals and require a quiet place to recuperate. We are very lucky to have Carol Drenan, a local volunteer, who can provide the necessary peace and quiet on her land in Winterslow. Both kids are now doing very well and will be released in due course. Marilyn named the next deer kid, Bouncer. He came in from West Tytherley via the RSPCA. He was picked up with all good intentions but it may have been better to leave him where he was. We recommend leaving kids for up to 24 hours, provided they are not in any immediate danger, just in case mum comes back for them. There is no doubt that any young animal is better off with their mum than being hand-reared by us. Skippy, the fourth male kid came in to the hospital after being found next to his dead mother in Winsley. They will be weaned and soft released on the edge of the New Forest. Our only female kid so far this year again came in via the RSPCA. They brought her to the hospital at 3am one morning saying she had been found on a road just outside Wimbourne, Dorset. The next morning she was so lively that Marilyn thought it would be best to try to put her back where she had been found. The caller who made the report to the RSPCA lives in a house in the middle of a Page 4 about 2 foot high so it was indeed quite big. It appears to be an escapee of some sort but with no identification ring and no-one coming forward to claim him, we will be looking to re-home him shortly. small wood on the edge of a golf course. She was confident that she would be able to predict where the local deer would be located at particular times of the day, so it looked favourable for an early release. Marilyn put the kid in a travel box and drove to Dorset. She rubbed the kid with grass to try to remove any human scent she may have picked up in her few hours away but when she was given the opportunity, she would not leave the box! Marilyn left the box and withdrew to the house with the intention of checking again after 20 minutes or so. However, within a few minutes the caller s son arrived home and reported that he had just watched a female deer walking away with a young kid. From the description of the kid, it looked like the plan had been successful. When Marilyn went back, she found the box was empty!

5 Page 5 Bye-bye Blackbirds and hello Raven Blackbirds top the list of injured birds seen in the hospital over the last three months. Starlings came next on the list, closely followed by Mistle Thrushes, Sparrows and Tree Creepers. Many of the injuries resulted from attacks by cats and we would appeal to all cat owners to ensure their pets have collars with bells on which will give birds at least some warning that a cat is on the prowl. Many of the birds fell from nests and a few House Martins and Swallow nests fell from eaves because of the very dry weather. A number of swallows and swifts found themselves grounded when trying to skim across what they thought was a puddle only to find out that is wasn t as deep as they thought. Certainly not deep enough for them to scoop up any water or mud. We have had three Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers in recently, and all are now much better. Sadly, the Green Woodpecker that came in was so ill he died Wild Things Res-Q within a few hours of being with us. One young gull was unlucky enough to drop from a nest in Chard on to a refrigeration lorry travelling to Devizes where he was spotted high up on the lorry. Marilyn called the Wiltshire Fire Service who did a splendid job rescuing him. Another first for us this year is the Raven below, which came to us from Great Cheverell. This incredibly striking bird, which was much bigger than I was expecting, had been shot in the wing. He is now well on the way to recovery and will be released soon. Hedgehog SOS! Mike and Marilyn became TV stars recently when they appeared on Meridian TV in an item we hope will raise people s awareness of the plight of some hedgehogs during summer tidying of gardens. We ve had various hedgehog mums and babies in the hospital again this year after people have tidied their gardens. We need to get the message across that there really is nothing wrong with having an untidy corner of the garden devoted to wildlife. The favoured nest sites for hedgehogs include compost heaps, piles of leaves or grass cuttings and any general garden rubbish. If possible, people should also avoid using chemicals, not just for the sake of hedgehogs and their babies like these which will Latest on the Great Bustard John Chitty, our veterinary adviser, is involved in the Great Bustard Reintroduction Programme and his last update to the press gave more information about the 22 birds released on Salisbury Plain last year. The project still has 5 birds out on the Plain and they are doing well. The males stand around three feet tall and are extremely wild. Several of the birds were injured and these may be used for breeding in the future. As it is normal for 75% of young birds not to reach their first birthday, the project certainly is not a failure but it would have been better had more survived. The good news is gladly eat the slugs and snails but also for the local frogs, birds, shrews and beetles. Please ask people to think of the nesting birds when cutting hedges or felling trees at this time of the year too! that none of the birds were lost to starvation or infectious diseases so it is not that they are incompatible with the Plain. The major problems were predation, collisions with fences and restricted movement due to the transmitter harnesses. So, for this year s intake of 40 birds, some fences have been dismantled, new transmitters will be fitted and there will be an improved predator awareness programme. For more information, please visit

6 Wild Things Res-Q Page 6 Member get member scheme The Trustees would like to build up the number of members we have over the next twelve months and we need your help to do it. If you could introduce just five of your wildlife friendly relatives, work colleagues or friends over the next year, we would be better able to secure the longterm future of the hospital. All you need to do is give us the relevant names, addresses and telephone numbers we will do the rest. Volunteer Profiles : Megan Earley and Kirsti Fitton Our featured volunteers for this issue are two students from Upper Avon School in Durrington who spent a week in mid July at the hospital doing Work Experience. Megan, from Bulford and Kirsti, from Durrington, both 17, were a tremendous help to Marilyn and threw themselves enthusiastically into everything they did. Cleaning out the cages is no-one s favourite job but the girls got stuck in without a hint of a complaint. Kirsti is hoping to study Animal Care at Lackham College later in the year and says that her work with us convinced her that she was making the right choice. Megan says she was not sure what she wanted to do after school but having worked with us, she now thinks that she too would like to work with animals. Marilyn would like to take this opportunity to thank the girls for all their hard work. However, as you can see from the photos alongside, it was not all cleaning and they did get to feed the young birds and the baby hedgehogs. They leant something about how to care for animals and how to co-ordinate rescues. Both girls say that they intend to come back to the hospital as volunteers and will definitely be coming to the Open Day. Donations and bequests Our grateful thanks go to member Charles Irvine of Dilton Marsh for the donation of 632 following a Charity Cycle Ride from Land s End to John O Groats. He would like to pass on his thanks to the 2 nd Winterbourne Brownies for all their donations. We are also indebted to Duncan Tom who very kindly donated the 80 he made from doing a car boot sale Kirsti Megan which was matched for by his employers. Geoff Hedworth would also like to thank everyone who has responded to his membership reminders. Many of you have taken the opportunity to Gift Aid your membership fees which is greatly appreciated. We rely on the generosity of people like you. Thank you very much indeed. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Work on the new hospital site takes place most weekends so if you would like to come along and lend a hand please contact either Mike Korkis on or Geoff Gray on THE NEXT BIG PUSH DAYS ARE SUNDAY 7 AUGUST & SATURDAY 20 AUGUST ~~~~~~~~~~ If you can help with the street collections or on the Open Day, or would like to play skittles for the hospital please contact Barbara on or Geoff on

7 Page 7 Wild Things Res-Q Street Collection : Saturday 6 August The Maltings, Salisbury Dogs Trust Open Day 11am to 4pm : Sunday 7 August Wild Things Res-Q Stall The Annual Open Day 10 am to 4pm : Sunday 21 August New Farm, Amesbury Road, Newton Tony * Car Boot starts at 10am * Auction starts at 1pm ~~ Brinkworth Fete : Sunday 4 September Wild Things Res-Q Stall Skittles Challenge Wild Things Res-Q v Dogs Trust: 17 September The White Horse, Quidhampton Street Collection : Saturday 24 September Morrisons, Devizes (Help needed please) Street Collection : Saturday 26 November Co-op, Pewsey (Help needed please) Street Collection : Saturday 26 November Marlborough (Help needed please) If you would like to play skittles or could help with the open day or street collections please contact Barbara on or Geoff on

8 Wild Things Res-Q Page 8 WOULD YOU LIKE TO USE THIS SPACE TO ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS? IF YOU WOULD, PLEASE CONTACT JUNE PENNELL ON OR ANDREWP@ WILTS-WILDLIFE-HOSP.ORG.UK