'Rhos-on-Seal'

With only 3 months left of my year long placement at Stapeley Grange, I feel that time has flown by, and as they say 'time flies when you’re having fun' (and working hard!). The day that will be most memorable to me was last Thursday, when I was cleaning and feeding the many ducklings we have in care at the moment and Wildlife Assistant Rob finds me and asks whether I would join him in releasing a seal. 

Unsurprisingly I jumped at the chance and we were soon on our way after getting the seal out of its pool and into a large vari kennel and into the back of our van.  The grey seal came to us in January as an orphan.  Initially he was tube fed fish soup and then hand fed fish until he was then eating on his own.  After some months he was transferred down to RSPCA East Winch (Norfolk) where they have larger, deeper pools.  He weighed around 60kg on release and with male grey seals weighing up to 300kg in the wild, he still has a bit of growing to do! 

We were going to be releasing the seal, named Colin, at Rhos-on-sea. Once we had found a suitable site for release, we carried the seal down to the water.  It was essential we released the seal at high tide, so that as the tide drew out, it would encourage the seal out into the deeper water.  The time finally came, after 5 months in care, to open the cage and release Colin back to the wild.

 

As soon as the door was opened, Colin hurried out and into the water without hesitation - which was amazing to watch.  He stuck around for a couple of minutes before making his way along the shore and then out of the bay. We expect he will migrate and integrate into a colony to breed. 

 

The whole experience was one I will never forget, particularly as I have seen first hand the progress he had made over the past few months.  I now fully appreciate the hard work that goes into rehabilitating such a large animal; I was so grateful to the team for allowing me to help!

Catherine Smith

Student Placement

'If you would like to help RSPCA Stapeley Grange with a donation of just £3, simply text RSPCA2 to 70007' Texts cost £3 + standard network rate. 

A Visit To A Release Aviary

On Friday 19^th May I went with Wildlife Assistant Rob to a release aviary close to Stapeley Grange. We took six Mistle Thrushes that had been in our care for a couple of weeks, along with food and water and released them into the aviary. The aviary is situated in a woodland and made out of wire mesh panels.  This is the final stage for the birds; they are subjected to all weather conditions and sounds but have the security of the aviary which protects from potential predators. 

Everyday a wildlife assistant travels to the aviary to give the birds fresh food and water… Rob said he might even trust me to do it! 

After 10-14 days a hatch is opened on the side of the cage and the birds are allowed to leave the aviary, as and when they please.  All of our birds released from these aviaries are ringed with a BTO ring in case they are seen in the wild.  They may even find themselves in our care again or even picked up at another wildlife hospital. 

The aviary is used for a number of species over the summer including thrushes, starlings, house sparrows and blackbirds.  Soft release protocols are always our preferred release options but our mobile aviaries also free up space in our main aviaries which allows us to get our birds out quicker and prevents a backlog of animals in the wildlife hospital.  The birds soon began to bathe in their water bath and fill their beaks with the food provided; bird seed, prosecto and meal worms provided.

Catherine Smith

Student Placement

'If you would like to help RSPCA Stapeley Grange with a donation of just £3, simply text RSPCA2 to 70007' Texts cost £3 + standard network rate. 

Fox Enrichment

After a few weeks of bottle feeding and once they were eating solid food (meat and day old chicks), signed off by the vets and wormed, a few groups of our fox cubs were ready to be moved from their inside cubicles to our outside fox runs.  We took them out in skippers, put them in the run and opened the doors.  We watched for a while (from outside) and they appeared quite hesitant to start with but after a while they were sniffing around their new environment. They eventually found their den and disappeared.

Each run contains a concreted area (for hygiene purposes) and a small den where the cubs will spend much of their time initially.  We added tyres and pipes for enrichment and bark chippings to make it more representative of the wild.  Currently they are being fed twice a day but whenever time allows the team try to enrich the animals by enriching the pens and hiding / scattering food. Under Rob's guidance myself and fellow student Jenna drilling holes into logs in which we filled with donated dog food food.  Each run has a camera set onto motion sensor setting which allows us to check the foxes without interfering with them in anyway.  It is so important that we keep our wild animals wild which is reinforced to Jenna and I constantly by the team.

Jenna and I are looking forward to checking out the video tomorrow to see if all our hard work was worth it.  (Update: everything was gone the next day and it kept them busy for a while so all our hard work was worth it).

Catherine Smith

Student Placement

'If you would like to help RSPCA Stapeley Grange with a donation of just £3, simply text RSPCA2 to 70007' Texts cost £3 + standard network rate. 

A Purrfect Day

On my first day of my marketing placement here at the RSPCA Stapeley Grange Nantwich, I was asked to help out in the cattery. Straight away I was very happy and couldn't wait to get stuck in and meet all the cats.

Upon entering the cattery I noticed immediately that most came straight to their doors to meet you and enquire as to where their breakfast was.

When cleaning the rooms it was hard to not be distracted by them. Some cats were playful, running around with their ping pong balls and toys, others daring to escape from their rooms and visit their neighbours, some were quite shy, however most just wanted a good cuddle and a fuss.

I met one cat in particular who stood out to me when cleaning her room. Her name was Pearl and she was a tiny grey feline who was quite nervous at first but quickly began to play with me and hunt for her toy mice.

Once all the cat's room's had been cleaned and breakfasts devoured I would say it was a good job well done.

I am now looking forward to going into the animal hospital on Thursday to meet some of the wildlife and will be posting on the RSPCA Stapeley Grange Facebook and Twitter for the next few weeks. 

Rebecca Fletcher

Student Placement

RSPCA Stapeley Grange Facebook

RSPCA Stapeley Grange Twitter

'If you would like to help RSPCA Stapeley Grange with a donation of just £3, simply text RSPCA2 to 70007' Texts cost £3 + standard network rate. 

4 Blind Mice

During my time here I've come to realise that we really do care for pretty much all forms of wildlife, from the great to the small. Most recently our tiniest additions were a group of woodmice. When they arrived they were in a poor state, very cold and skinny, with their eyes still closed. 

To begin with the mice were syringe fed a milk and farleys mixture via cannulas as their mouths were so small. Luckily for staff they took to it well and after just four days were feeding for themselves, lapping farleys and milk from a bowl. This is very beneficial to the animals as it means staff can handle them much less often and they have a less stressful time in care before release. 

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It's just a matter of time now before we are able to release them back to the wild, definitely the best part of the rehabilitation process

Jenna Haslam

Student Placement

'If you would like to help RSPCA Stapeley Grange with a donation of just £3, simply text RSPCA2 to 70007‘ Texts cost £3 + standard network rate

Cubs galore!

It's still on the quiet side here at stapeley (although Spring is around the corner) but as a result of the stormy weather we've had recently we've encountered some touch and go situations, keeping staff on their toes! 

Many of you will have seen the news report on little Daffi but for those who haven't I've added a few very cute pictures. She was separated from her mother during storm Doris and was brought into care with us. To begin with she was given milk feeds every three hours but she quickly gained strength and moved on to a milk and trout mixture. 

She's now on just three feeds per day and doing very well. The staff are on the look out for a pairing for her. A further two otters were brought in later in the week. They were the same age as each other so it was assumed that they came from the same litter, so have been kept together. With these new arrivals, our otter total has been brought up to a huge 8 in our care!! 

I was also lucky enough to be in for the arrival of a tiny badger. The centre had previously cared for young badgers, the smallest weighing 350g but this baby was only 94g!! She was aged at only a few days old so after a few frantic calculations a feeding plan was drawn up and she was given milk formula every two hours. Luckily, she took to the syringe well and had a healthy appetite. 

After a few days with us she was transferred to Cuan Wildlife Rescue where she is now receiving around the clock care. It was sad to see her go as the staff had a real soft spot for her but she is doing well with our friends at Cuan now and will return when she is ready to join other cubs. 

Jenna Haslam

Student Placement

'If you would like to help RSPCA Stapeley Grange with a donation of just £3, simply text RSPCA2 to 70007‘ Texts cost £3 + standard network rate