Merlin wishes you a happy new year, let it all hang out✨✨✨ #merlin #foxsquirrel #squirrel #rescue #wildlife #nuts #wildliferescue #squirrlin #fuzzy #woodlandcreature #witchesfamiliar #forestwitch #nature #chubbysquirrel #2021 #happynewyear #newyearsday #oklahoma #tokyo #tokyopewpew https://www.instagram.com/p/CJhez01Mj_16HNZzQisMD1HytNWLooH9XCmMKM0/?igshid=xuj0q1szeobx
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⚠️⚠️ WARNING! GRAPHIC IMAGES OF OUR WORK!⚠️⚠️
Another Southern White Rhino Bull shot and his front horn traumatically hacked away by poachers.
This Bull has been making a fairly good recovery, however it seems that the Oxpecker birds are now irritating the wound and keeping it open, preventing the area from healing fully.
Dr. Johan, together with Dr. H (the local vet which has been treating this Rhino) immobilised the Bull and treated the facial wound with the technique that was developed several years ago by STS, using fibreglass material and orthopaedic screws with wound dressings below.
This will need to stay on 3 to 4 weeks, after which we will remove the covering and assess how the wound has reacted to the treatment.
In the meantime the Oxpeckers cannot gain access to the wound, which should give the area ample time to heal sufficiently.
Please continue to support our work so that we are always ready to answer that call when wildlife needs us. It is your generous donations that make all this possible! Please donate via the link or button.
This frog was caught by a cat before being brought into the centre for a checkup. Whilst it had, luckily, escaped any physical injury, it was very thin and dehydrated and needed a little R&R!
After bathing in antibiotic and rehydration solutions (amphibians absorb this through their skin), it was moved into a tank with some food to recover. Whilst we are still in the early days of treatment, we hope this little guy will be able to return to the wild soon :)
Whilst we try to be as prepared as we possibly can be on rescues, we are sometimes faced with having none of our rescue equipment to hand! In this particular instance, our team had only just released a buzzard when they were asked to help rescue an injured baby goose that has fishing line tangled around its legs.
With only one short net on hand, Maru, our lead vet, had to get a little creative to make sure we could help the poor bird…
Check out the full story on our YouTube channel! (Link in bio)
This tiny little blackbird is the smallest patient we’ve admitted so far today!
Still half encased in its egg, it was found out of the nest by a member of the public and was rushed into the centre for help. After being carefully helped out of the shell, it was given a gentle examination before being moved into an incubator ready for feeding. A youngster this small will need feeding every 15 minutes!
We are currently right in the middle of our busiest time of the year here at Wildlife Aid. Our ‘orphan season’ sees 80 new patients every single day and we can take a phone call every four minutes!
These two young badgers were transferred to us from another rescue centre (WRAS in East Sussex) so that they could be raised in a group with out other badger cubs. Although still babies, they look just like miniature badgers! This is their story…
It’s now been a month since our first juvenile great-spotted woodpeckers arrived at the centre, and they have made an incredible transformation in that time.
After returning from the volunteer feeders that were caring for them, they are now stretching their wings in one of our quieter aviaries and are already eating for themselves! It will now be just a matter of days before they can head back to freedom at last!
No two swan rescues are the same here at WAF, but our most recent venture was not something we’d seen before!
Early one morning we were inundated with calls about two swans who had become separated from their cygnets and were going mad with worry. Luckily, Lawrie and Simon were soon on the scene and were able to successfully reunite the family in just a few minutes!
Please visit our #YouTube channel to see the full story!
Well done to everyone who took part in this week’s #WeekendWildlifeChallenge! Some fantastic mammal images (along with a sneaky kestrel & horse, too!).
Here’re just a few of the entries, well done Hannah Vincent, Louise Brown, Jane Roberts, Megan Mahony, Jonathan Godfrey.
These six TINY youngsters are newborn bank voles, and they arrived at the centre after their nest was disturbed.
After being given some oral rehydration solution to combat their mild dehydration, they were very carefully fed by one of our volunteers.
As youngsters this small require very specialised attention (including feeds throughout the night), they were transferred to another centre to get the very best chance we could give them. Hopefully, they will head back to the wild once fully grown :)
This fledgling blue tit was caught by a dog whilst venturing out of the nest for the first time. Whilst initially very lethargic, it eventually perked up after a little time in one of our incubators and is now very lively!
It is currently on a course of antibiotics to combat any potential infection, but is making great progress and should be able to head back to the wild once fully developed.
These six tiny youngsters are pheasant chicks, and they were brought into the centre after being found abandoned in a road. Sadly no sigh was found of any parents and they would not have survived on their own.
Whilst, very sadly, one of the youngsters was too weak to survive, the remaining five are doing well and are currently staying with one of our team for round the clock support.
It is still early days, but we hope they will be able to head back to the wild once fully grown.
This young jay was brought into our care after being found by the side of a road. Whilst is was still quite bright, our vet team found a small wound on the birds head, exposing the skull.
Amazingly, the bone was not damaged and, after a quick clean with iodine solution, the wound was glued closed using the special Dermaflex glue we were kindly donated recently (causing much less stress or risk than sutures).
The jay, now on a course of antibiotics, is recovering in one of our cages and will head back to the wild once fully grown.
In this rescue, Simon attempts to capture a greylag goose with an injured leg. After Simon shows himself up a little, with a fumbled catch, the goose was quickly on it’s way back to the centre for treatment.
Sadly, an X-ray revealed that the fracture had been caused by a gun pellet! However, Maru, our lead veterinary surgeon was confident of a successful repair.
Check out the video to see the full rescue and operation.
These five great-spotted woodpecker chicks now bring our total number to ten!
Sadly, the tree they were nesting in fell down in high winds and they were brought into our care after being found scattered on the ground.
Whilst not physically injured, they were all quite dehydrated and were given sub-cutaneous fluids before being moved into a warm enclosure to recover. Once looking a little more lively (and happily calling away), they were transferred to one of our volunteer orphan feeders for round the clock care. With feeds due every hour, they will be quite a handful!
Our office manager, Alice, had quite a shock when she got home to find this little vole on the mesh of her bathroom window!
We’re not sure how it got there, but it’s now safely admitted to the centre! With no injuries, it just needs a bit of time to grow before it can return to the wild :)
These two extremely tiny birds are, in fact, goldcrest chicks. Along with the firecrest, the goldcrest is the UK’s smallest bird and they are rarely seen here at the centre!
As they are so small and prove tricky to raise in captivity, they require round-the-clock care; these two are now being fed by one of our specialist orphan feeders.
Although their future is very guarded, we always try our utmost to raise every animal, right through to release, so, we’ll keep you updated on their progress.
If you’ve ever wanted to see THIRTEEN young foxes in one place, head over to our webcams!
These youngsters are now in one of our larger pens whilst our new custom fox units are completed. It shouldn’t be too long before they have a much nicer home to spend the rest of their time with us in!
After only 6 days of being with us here at the centre, this young nuthatch already looks remarkably different and will soon be moved into an aviary with some of our other garden birds.
Young birds grow so quickly and nuthatches can fly the nest after just 22 days!
Woodpecker number four arrived with us, this week, after the tree containing it’s nest was felled. Sadly, some contractors don’t know or choose to ignore the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 regulations that prevent instances like this.
Luckily for the bird, an examination proved it to be fit and healthy, although not yet old enough to survive alone in the wild. So, this woodpecker will now join our other three youngsters, until they are ready to be released in a few months’ time.