Blondie!

What a rare and special sight I came into contact with during a late shift at Stapeley... An albino hedgehog!

It arrived via one of our RSPCA Inspectors, along with a few wood pigeons, a Canada goose, a herring gull and a blackbird. However, this little critter was by far the most intriguing out of the lot! (No offense pigeons, goose, gull & blackbird...)

Genetically, it is our ‘phenotype’ which determines the expression of inherited characteristics that we can see e.g. eye, hair, skin colour. Albinism is caused by a recessive pigmentation gene and results in that which we are familiar with, blonde or white colouring with pink eyes.

I couldn’t wait to grab my camera and share these pictures with you. It was tightly curled and needed a little persuasion to show its face, so the pictures are a little obscure!

Amazing to see such quirks of nature present in the animal kingdom as well as our own...

 

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BTO Ringing

This week I have been assisting Deb, our qualified and experienced BTO Ringer, with the task of ringing some of the gulls here at Stapeley. The purpose of BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) ringing is to enable identification of birds in the future.

Anyone who comes across a BTO ringed bird can report it. Gathering information of BTO birds assists in the study of populations, survival, breeding and migration. Gaining such knowledge helps us to understand patterns of behaviour and reasons for declining numbers.

But before all of that, comes the ‘ringing’! On capturing an individual gull, they are weighed and given a feather inspection to make sure they are suitable and ready for release.

Deb, using specialised ringing tools (or so she said... They looked like a pair of pliers to me, the novice!), carefully places a ring around a gulls leg and uses her ‘pliers’ to close the ring.

This requires careful judgement so as not to be too loose or too tight. I recorded the ring numbers, written next to their weight. We did this for about eight gulls, and very soon they will be released.

Who knows what their journeys will hold? Who knows if we will see them again?!

                                                             

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Pigeon Street

There are many things I return home with at the end of a shift from Stapeley...from a t-shirt dotted with bird droppings, to sore, dry hands from the continuous rubber glove wearing and hand washing. It is sometimes the smell of the animals or the mud I’ve picked up from outdoor duties. I’ve returned home with a great sense of wellbeing from having helped with a successful release, or a sense of sadness for an animal having been put to sleep...

I’ve come home having learnt and experienced something new. I’ve come home tired and exhausted, and just recently I came home with not one, but two pigeons and a dove!!! Domestic species in need of re-homing and I thought ‘Why not!’

Having settled into their new aviary, they are comical to watch and calming to be around. A pigeon fancier I have become!

                                                                          

                                                                              

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Interior Design

Our priority when admitting sick and injured animals is to alleviate their pain and discomfort and house them as comfortably as possible. Isolation units, shoreline cages, pens and containers are basic so as to enable thorough and hygienic cleaning. Decorative adornment is not a key consideration!

However, often when the animals (birds in particular) are eventually moved outside, we do try to create an environment which is purposeful and enriching to them. Just last week I helped to prepare one of our outdoor aviaries for several blackbirds. After having been indoors for awhile, the birds spend a short time in the outdoor aviary prior to release as period of adjustment!

               

 Decorating the aviary with leafy branches creates a natural look, giving the birds space to perch and more importantly, places to hide! Replicating outdoor conditions means they participate in natural behaviours, picking through the leaves and flying freely between branches...not long to wait, and they will be in the great outdoors for real!

                                                                              

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If Our Wildlife Could Only Talk...

If our wildlife could only talk, I think many countryside species would say ‘Please slow down in your cars’. But they can’t talk, so I’m doing it for them...

Ah! The joy of driving through country lanes with fewer cars, and at night, little, or no light pollution. This brings me to my point of slowing down please, particularly at night when many wild animals come out in the cover of darkness.  Recently we admitted a very sad looking and unfortunately, badly injured badger, brought to us by RSPCA Inspector Cragg. It had been spotted pulling itself across the road after being hit by a car, its back legs dragging behind.

On arriving at Stapeley, the badger was sedated so a full examination could be carried out. Our vet detected a head trauma, as well as spinal injury which explained the poor animal having to drag itself across the road. Suffering from such severe injuries resulted in the badger having to be put to sleep. I was glad it did not have to endure any more pain, longer than was necessary, but it was such a terrible shame that an otherwise healthy animal had to come to such an abrupt end.

Please remember when driving through country roads, that we are driving amidst the homes of many species of wildlife. We have the right to be safe where we live, and so should they. 

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Captain Hook...

Apologies for the lack of blogs lately - we are experiencing problems uploading.

What is wrong with this picture? Spot the foreign object. Yes, you’ve probably been able to identify the anomaly...

This picture drew quite a few of us wildlife staff into the x-ray room I can tell you! This is an image of a herring gull who has managed to swallow a coat hanger hook!

How, when and where? Nobody knows. But what I am aware of is the irony of the situation, whereby the bird was put to sleep, not because of the enormous hook that we accidently came across, but because of a tiny shot pellet found in its shoulder area, debilitating its ability to fly.

When I consider all the oddities in behaviour observed, the injuries and health issues endured, the unfortunate incidents which these animals we see have been exposed to, THIS, has to be the most bizarre occurrence I have witnessed so far. Never a dull moment that’s for sure!

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Bubble, Bubble, OIL and Trouble...

It was all hands on deck late last week at Stapeley after receiving a phone call from one of our RSPCA
Inspectors, advising us of the imminent arrival of several oiled Canada geese from Manchester.

                                

Wellies, waterproofs and aprons on, check, sinks, shower head and hot water at the ready, check,

isolation unit bedded with warm air blowing, check, several Canada geese smelling like an oil
refinery and looking like they have been down a coal mine...yes, unfortunately. A pitiful sight indeed.

Two pairs of hands per goose with relentless soaping and rinsing, ensured these unlucky birds were safe from ingesting oily chemicals (which they unwittingly do whilst preening their feathers), and began the lengthy process of attempting to restore their natural waterproofing.

                              

     



Several hours later, the geese were cleaner, brighter and consequently, safer. They will be observed closely over the coming days to monitor their general health and feather condition.  A tiring and stressful afternoon for both the geese and wildlife staff I think (!)

A few days on and some have already been transferred outside and are now preparing for their eventual release back to the wild.  Since we received the first call we have had 9 in and we have more arriving today.

Sponsors of Stapeley Grange's Summer Wildlife Assistant Position