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

 

'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