Meet the buzzards!

 This week at the centre has been the most different that I've experienced so far. As well as the usual cleaning of fox cages and waterfowl pools - more on this in subsequent posts - I got to help out in the isolation unit of the hospital. Home to all of the animals that are still being monitored for sickness and disease, the pens in isolation are designed to house everything things as small as a single gull chick, to creatures as large as fully grown grey seals (*Cuteness warning - picture of a grey seal pup at the very bottom)! 

During my time in the isolation unit I got hissed at by a very angry gosling, pecked at by a particularly demanding herring gull, but (coolest of all) got to see a juvenile buzzard hand-fed and even helped affix a tail-guard to him. Talk about up close and personal...

Later that day, whilst myself and another student were preparing the evening feeds, we were asked to go and help crop-tube feed the two buzzards that had been released into the aviaries the day before. After being surrendered to us by a captive breeder, these guys were stressed out to the max and had stopped eating, which is where we come in! After immobilising the animal (those talons are sharp), a long metal feeding tube is fed down the birds gullet, through which a super tasty 'chick soup' is delivered via syringe. Nice. Wouldn't be my chosen method of delivery but it's definitely effective! 

These guys will be monitored over the next few days in order to determine whether they're suitable for release. Sadly, animals that come out of captive breeding are less likely to survive in the wild - an affinity for humans gets them into all kinds of sticky situations. It's not all doom and gloom though, because these guys really do not like people! They've already nipped a few of the staff, so their case for release is actually looking pretty good...

More from me next week,

Chelsie

Student Placement

To support the ongoing work of the wildlife hospital, during this extremely difficult time, please donate to the Wildlife JustGiving site.

*Seal pup pic - as aforementioned

A little about me...

My name's Chelsie and I'm a mature student at LJMU (Representing the Midlands in the North, it's tough). For a long time in my early teens I was very lost... I spent a long time hopping from industry to industry and never really found my feet. As much as I enjoyed working with the public in Hospitality, it just never felt 'right'.

Fast forward a few years and I have one year of my Animal Behaviour degree left. If you'd told me I'd be here, even as little as 3 years ago, I'd have laughed in your face. But here I am, finally doing something that matters to me - learning how to help those that can't help themselves.

My time at the RSPCA will be brief - hell, I only have a month left even though it feels like I basically just started... but over the coming weeks I hope to communicate just how hard these guys on the ground here work and how much they need and value your continued support! 

I promise to deliver some success stories and fluffy photographs along the way, but alongside that I want to write about the reality of volunteering at a place like Stapeley Grange and the emotional highs and lows the staff at the RSPCA are subjected to every single day. So stick around and you might just feel compelled to start volunteering yourself...

Looking forward to sharing my journey with you all,

Chelsie 

Student Placement

To support the ongoing work of the wildlife hospital, during this extremely difficult time, please donate to the Wildlife JustGiving site.

PS. As promised, here's a 'fluffy' photograph of my absolute faves at the centre, some otters! My university lecturers will confirm that I'm a bit of a mustelid fanatic - how could you not be, look at these guys! They're some of the longer-term residents at Stapeley as we have to keep them in for several months before releasing them back out into the wild. That does mean, however, that we really get to see their individual personalities shine through. The guy in the 2nd photograph is a very cheeky little chappie! Hopefully by the next post I will have sussed out how to embed video, and that'll be a real treat for you all :D