Going into my tenth week at Stapeley Grange as a student on a placement year I can see I am being given more and more responsibilities regarding treating the animals with their specific medications. Personally, I feel I have come a long way, as when my cat was first diagnosed with diabetes, injecting him twice a day was more of a nerve wrecking task than it should have been. However now, I feel I am confident in injections and oral medication and also learning the art of crop tubing
I have also been given other tasks such as bagging up a fully grown swan for release which was quite an experience, along with hand feeding a Gannet in isolation (pictured below) and helping Supervisor Rob dismantle a fox cage at a release site. This was a physically tough task but allowed me to see a site where foxes are taken for a ‘soft release’ meaning they may frequently come back to the cage for food that we take before finally moving away and finding a suitable habitat for themselves.
One particular case which caught my attention whilst working in the Orphan Room was a hedgehog with a significantly swollen tongue. The vets came to the conclusion it was stung by or had tried to eat a grounded been. Many people thought the hedgehog was a lost cause and would have to be put to sleep but after a few days of steroids and other treatments the swelling went down and the hedgehog could eat and drink for itself again.
Although it is becoming quieter at the centre, as we move to winter, there is still as much cleaning and washing as ever. The wash room will be tidied and cleaned once a day but 24 hrs later it is full of used skippers and cages that need scrubbing again - but if nobody did these jobs, we would run out of accommodation very quickly.
Catherine Smith
Student Placement
