'Today gets the seal of approval' - Catherine Smith

After a morning of cleaning and feeding lots of hedgehogs I spent some time with wildlife assistants Michelle and Sophie in isolation. We were about to attempt to tube feed a seal...

The grey seal had been rescued in from Red Wharf bay in Anglesey on Wednesday (23rd Nov).  It had been monitored for 48 hours and no parents were seen during this time so help was needed. The orphaned seal is said to be about 2 weeks old; she weighed in at 15kg on admission. 

 

Trying to minimize stress as much as possible Michelle covered the seal with a towel and restrained it by kneeling over its back and pinning its head down (gently but safely), making sure her fingers were nowhere near its mouth! Then Sophie aided her with the syringe and tube whilst it was fed down its mouth and into its stomach. She also had the glamorous task of taking its temperature via the rear end. 

It was feisty as expected and made noises I'd never heard an animal make before. Staff here receive lots of training with seals as although they look cute they can give you a nasty bite, apparently. The seal is tube fed five times a day and is currently being fed a mixture of lectade which is a re-hydration therapy with aqua-vitamins and fish soup which is blended mackerel. 

This seal is being transported to RSPCA East Winch Wildlife Centre shortly; they specialize in the rehabilitation of seals and offer more facilities for this. I am confident it will grow and make a full recovery and I am eager to keep up with its story.

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 Release

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be asked to help on one of the last fox releases for this year. The site was quite local at a commercial quarry. Myself, Rob (Senior Wildlife Assistant) and Sophie (Wildlife Assistant) loaded all the kit into the car and trailer and eventually managed to coax all five juveniles into a box for transporting. I drew the short straw and had to sit in the back nearest to the foxes which if you've ever smelt a fox before then you'll probably understand and feel my pain. 

To our delight, we were joined by a couple of members of staff on site. The RSPCA most of their orphaned mammals species through a method of release known as a 'soft release' which means they are first transferred to large cage at the release site and then support fed and watered over a period of three weeks after being released, with the amount of support feed decreased over time to help bridge the transition between captivity and living in the wild. 

The cage is made up of eight wire panels, so the first step was to stride out a suitable area and then dig out a trench to drop the panels into, before then bolting then together. Setting the cage into a trench helped to prevent the foxes from digging out, in theory! Once built the box with the foxes in was placed inside.  Branches and leaves were also put inside and on top of the cage to make it more natural, along with some food and a bucket of water.

After everything was finished it was down to Rob to open the box and to make a quick escape. On this release, we were lucky enough to see one very brave fox emerge and have a quick feed before we had to leave. The foxes will be caged for one week before being released and then support fed for the further three weeks.

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

'Wotter day'

Last week I had the amazing opportunity of helping to release two otters that have been in Stapeley Granges' care for about 10 months. They came to us on Christmas Eve 2015 as orphans by storms from Rea Brook, Shrewsbury. They were named suitably by the staff as Mary and Joseph (pictured below). Over the next ten months the pair were fed and monitored closely and raised in an excellent otter enclosure, built with the money W G Harvey Discretionary Settlement generously donated. 

      

The first task in this release was to catch the otters to move them into an empty run so they could be quickly boxed up the next morning. This sounds like a fairly simple task although it took nine members of staff and volunteers to heard the otters around their enclosure and towards the door where a box was placed and the door was quickly shut. It was like a military operation as otters can be quite vicious if approached in the wrong way. I was thankful to be involved in this, let alone what was yet to come.

The next day I went to the release sight with Supervisor Rob and two volunteers to create an enclosure that the otters would live in for the next two weeks until we would then open the fencing to allow them to move on and find suitable habitats for themselves. We used around 50 metres of electric fencing to create this area and had to clear a lot of nettles and weeds as it was so over grown. A pool was placed in the area which was filled with the near by river water, along with tyres and tubes for the otters enrichment. Volunteer Graham put up two camera traps which are motion censored so we can see the otters reactions to their new surroundings. The next day, we traveled again to the site but with the otters in the back of the van. A journalist from BBC radio Stoke arrived who interviewed Rob whilst I made the finishing touches to the fencing. We then carried the box containing the otters over the fence and stood by while Rob opened the sliding door. While one otter stayed in the box and remained unseen the other, believed to be the female, shot out without hesitation and began scouting her surroundings for us all to capture on video. Rob mentioned this was quite rare and hasn't happened in the last six years in all the releases he had done, which made the experience even more exciting. 

 

Otter populations are on the increase in the UK since the 1960's and 70's where they were extinct in most parts of England, but can be now found in every English county! The work of the RSPCA in rehabilitating sick, injured or orphaned animals plays a huge role in the conservation of species populations and I am so proud to be a member of this organisation. Looking forward to get involved in more releases next year!

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

It's hog time for placement student Jenna Haslam

My name is Jenna and like Catherine I am also on a year long placement here at Stapeley Grange as part of my degree. I study zoology at Swansea University and when I was offered the chance to take a year out to gain some experience I jumped at the chance and applied to be a wildlife assistant for the RSPCA. My intention was to get an insight into the sort of career that I will potentially pursue after I graduate and since I started here at the beginning of September I haven’t been disappointed with the experience! 

I have to admit that the foxes are my favorite so I am very much looking forward to getting to work hands on with them next Spring but for now I’m getting very well acquainted with the resident hedgehogs and we have quiet a few!

Before I started I’d never seen a hedgehog up close and now I feed, weigh and clean out an average of 20-30 every day. Its so rewarding when you can see the recovery over time with individuals gaining weight until they are big enough to be released. We then get to box them up so they can be returned to the wild.  It’s amazing how each individual has its own personality and how quickly you get to know each character from working with them each day; we get to know who the messy ones are too!! 

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

A hungry gannet and stung hog

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

Volunteering at Stapeley - Catherine Smith

I was asked to start off at Stapeley as a volunteer before my placement in September, so that it would be easier for me when I started my one year programme.   Over the past couple of months I have learned so much; I don’t know what I expected but it has certainly opened my eyes as to how much effort and work goes into the rehabilitation of injured, sick or orphaned wild animals.

  

I have carried out so many jobs in the centre already ranging from cleaning and feeding the ducklings in the duckling room, preparing feeds for foxes and polecats to feeding corvids by hand in the indoor aviaries.  And of course there has been a lot of, not so glamorous, washing!  But as staff regularly explain this is equally as important as everything else I have been involved in!   I have also helped with the feeds in the orphan room, lots of hedgehogs and lots of nestlings that require hourly feeds which really keep the team busy.  

Another job I was recently given was to prepare badger cub feeds, by Sarah who has worked at Stapeley Grange for many years and is very knowledgeable and experienced.  I was asked to make bowls of dog food, day old chicks, which is what I expected but then they were also given watermelon, digestive biscuits, peanuts and jam sandwiches! The badger cubs here at Stapeley Grange eat better than I do at home!

Sponsors of Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre and Cattery

To Support RSPCA Stapeley Grange by donating £3, simply text RSPCA2 to 70007 

Texts cost £3 + standard network rate

Late Shift with the Corvids

It’s getting busier every week with more and more admissions of sick, injured and orphaned wildlife. This week I assisted in near enough every area, but was assigned one room to take charge of myself; the Corvid room. It’s nice knowing that my development is being noticed and that wildlife assistants and supervisors now feel that they can assign me a room to care for myself.

The Corvid room consists of basically a lot of orphaned Corvids!! Corvid's are a specific family of birds which include Rook’s, Magpies, Crows and Jackdaw, all very intelligent birds. I was in charge of hourly feeds, cleans, topping up food and water and if needed assisting in admitting treatments with the aid of wildlife assistants and veterinary nurses. My knowledge and experience of working the orphan room really helped for my lone work in the Corvid room and I was able to get straight to work and monitor any unusual behaviours.

   

During a late shift there are generally fewer staff so we have to organise ourselves to ensure all areas are fed, watered and locked up for the night. I assisted Michelle in preparing and providing feeds to the foxes located outside.  We also fed our pair of otters (which are growing fast) and many other bird species that are now in our aviaries. We herded in the ducklings and ensured everywhere was secure and locked down for the night. I also helped clean and feed the ducklings inside, assisted in orphan room and also helped clean rooms and prepare feeds and stock up on equipment and materials.

  

I was able to observe Katie (Seasonal Wildlife Assistant) admitting some new animals, which included Hedgehogs and a racing pigeon! The staff here take great care in taking as much information as possible on the animals when they first arrive.  Each patient gets a printed card which remains with the animals until their is an end result. All data entered onto the database is apparently analysed at the end of the year so that the team can assess how well they have done with each species.

Laura Thorpe - Volunteer Wildlife Assistant

Sponsors of Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre and Cattery

To Support RSPCA Stapeley Grange by donating £3, simply text RSPCA2 to 70007 

Texts cost £3 + standard network rate