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Secret World Wildlife Rescue have been experiencing yet another bumper summer of orphaned wildlife and have taken in so many orphaned hedgehogs that we are appealing for donations of tinned cat food!

Secret World will be opening its doors to the public on 24th & 25th July for an aptly themed Hedgehog and Tortoise Weekend. The centre will open from 10am – 4pm, there is no admission charge but donations are welcome on the door including Cat food!

Visitors will be have the opportunity of seeing hedgehogs and finding out about how they live and how they can help one of Britain’s best loved mammals. As well as hedgehogs there will be a special visit from ‘Eric’ the Giant Sulcata tortoise who will be stomping around the orchard and members of the Chelonian Society will be on hand to give advice and information on how to look after a tortoise.

We look forward to seeing you!

Get together with your friends and do the ‘WildWalk’ to help British Wildlife this Summer!

‘Challenge24’ is Secret World’s request to individuals, schools, groups and companies all across the area to help keep its 24 hour wildlife rescue and care service going. We are asking the public to dream up fundraising ideas using the number 24! It could be swimming 24 laps, walking 24 miles, baking 24 cakes…anything goes as long as it uses the number 24. Why not take a ‘WildWalk’ this summer – this is your chance to get out into the great outdoors by organising a nature-spotting sponsored walk between July and September 2010. To make your walk even more enjoyable, whether out in the countryside or in a local park, we’ll send you a list of 24 animals or signs of animals to look out for. We’ll also send you a list of links to help you find lovely local walks. Maybe you could all have a picnic or stop for a smashing pub lunch too!

Every penny raised will go to helping animals like ‘Pumpkin’ (pictured below) – just one example of the 4,000 animals rescued by Secret World, the region’s only 24-hour wildlife rescue service every year. Little Pumpkin is a male roe deer fawn that was picked up in Crewkerne, by a concerned member of the general public, after it was thought he was abandoned by his mother. Luckily, Pumpkin’s finder knew all about Secret World and called the 24 hour emergency rescue line late on a Sunday evening.

Pumpkin

The fawn was safely collected by Natalie – one of our volunteer rescue drivers and Sara, our veterinary nurse, is busy feeding Pumpkin every 3 hours – it’s a very demanding schedule with such a small orphan to care for. Now the staff are busier still because ‘Pumpkin’ has recently been joined by a further 4 orphans!

Secret World saves animals found by the public often in the worst possible conditions, suffering from illness, left without mothers or in agony from their wounds – but this all costs money and without public support they wouldn’t be able to go on helping these animals.

Joining in is simple and heaps of fun! So please sign up today for the WildWalk and make sure we can keep on rescuing animals like Pumpkin. Or, if you prefer you could come up with your own fundraising idea for ‘Challenge24’. If you choose to organise your own event we’ve got lots of ideas for challenges – easy, medium or difficult for you to think about, all included in our fundraising pack.

To take part please download the registration form here: REGISTRATION FORM
or email lynette@secretworld.org

Secret World Wildlife Rescue are celebrating their 11th Annual Charity Auction & Ball at 7pm on Saturday 20th November 2010 and ‘Arabian Nights’ is the theme of the evening!   Guests can dress to impress or in Arabian themed costumes and all proceeds from the evening will go towards the care and rehabilitation of injured and orphaned wildlife.  

This year Secret World has chosen a fantastic new venue to hold the event – Cadbury House Hotel, near Congresbury, Bristol, BS49 5AD www.cadburyhotelbristol.co.uk

Cadbury House Hotel

Tickets are priced £40 per person and include a three course meal, Cabaret & Belly Dancing, Main & Silent Auctions and Casino.  Book your place before 1st September 2010 and enter our draw to win a complimentary double en-suite room for the evening of 20th November 2010 (includes breakfast and use of leisure facilities).  Overnight rooms can only be booked directly with the hotel on Tel: 01278 783250.  Please quote “Secret World” at time of booking to receive a discounted rate.  Booking forms and further information can be downloaded below.  If you would like postal copies then please then please contact us on Tel: 01278 783250 or email lynette@secretworld.org

SWWR Fundraising Ball & Auction 2010

SWWR Fundraising Auction & Ball 2010 – Booking Form

We hope to see you there!

It’s been a busy week which involved a visit to London with Aquarius, the tiny badger cub. The Alan Titchmarsh Show wanted me to be at the studios early Monday morning so I decided it was easier to give him his feed at 8 p.m. Sunday night and then to travel up to London and to stay in a hotel overnight so that I was already in London for the 9 a.m visit.

Eyes open now , he's a pretty boy !

I arrived in London just before 11.30 p.m so just in time for his last night feed. I smuggled the incubator into the hotel room and the cub was still snug and warm with his hot water bottle, oblivious of his journey. Just my luck that he had a disturbed night and was calling for feeds every two hours. A badger cub being vocal in the middle of the night does sound horrendously loud and at one point we were both under the duvet trying to soften the noise! 

Anyway we got to the studio on time and Aquarius proceeded to sleep solidly all through the day making up for the disturbed hours! There were rehearsals and we were filmed at 3 p.m. and got away from London before all the traffic started for home. The piece goes out on this Monday 15^th March. Hopefully it will bring people to our web site and make them aware of the badger cull that is about to start in Pembrokeshire, Wales where thousands of badgers will be killed.

There was a demonstration outside the Welsh Assembly the same day as I was in London but I took the decision that hopefully we would reach more people through the television than going to Cardiff. There were still nearly 200 people at the demonstration and if nothing else, it shows the Welsh Assembly that we will continue to fight their decision. We just need more people to write to Elin Jones and protest at the stupidity of this Pilot scheme when science has already proved that it plays no part in the control of Bovine tb in cattle.

A tiny new born goat kid from Brean Down was found having fallen from the cliffs on Sunday March 7^th. It was practically dead with blood pouring from it’s mouth.  Luckily someone found it and it was brought out to us. He stayed overnight at the vets and returned to us on the Monday. He has got stronger every day and is now skipping around. He has a broken leg on the knee joint so there is nothing we can do for the leg but he is doing well and will probably be staying with us. The name is yet to be agreed upon !

Only a couple of days old, he's so much better now.

He has had a short run in the garden and has found the few flowers that are struggling to come though now that the sunshine is to be seen through the day. 

My days never seem long enough with goat kid, otter cub and badger cub to feed although the girls help during the day. The kitchen is more a nursery than anything else and it’s very noisy first thing in the morning when everyone wants their feed at the same time!

Aquarius has opened his eyes and is taking from a baby’s bottle now. At least this little cub will be safe from harm this spring. I can’t help but think of all badgers and cubs  that will not be safe and will be killed in Wales.

Taking from a baby's bottle now

Well, apologies to all re my blogs that have been absent for several weeks. I have to admit that I have been away for four weeks on a holiday to Australia which was certainly a holiday of a lifetime. It was all to do with the fact that I am reaching my 60^th year!

Luckily I had made contact with several people who are involved with wildlife care in Australia and I had a fabulous time visiting carers looking after joeys, wombats, possums and sugar gliders. Wombats are definitely my favourite – they are so like badgers! However it was a long time away from home and I’m glad to be back even if I have had to hit the ground running.

A baby wombat called Spud !

Judith, one of our animal carers, moved into my flat to look after Snowflake, the otter cub that I left in the cubby hole. I received a phone call while I was in Australia to say he was weaned and was it ok for him to go down to the Otter and Owl Centre in Southampton as they had another cub for him to go to. Of course, that was fine as far as I was concerned, but I was sorry not to have seen him before he went.

I was going to be coming home to an empty cubby hole – but I needn’t have worried as a young female otter cub was brought to Secret World the day I returned so I was soon back to bottle feeds!

 

Terra holding her bottle

This otter cub has been named Terra by Laura who is another of our animal carers, and she is helping me with the feeds which is just as well as, just a few days later, our first badger cub arrived. The cub had been pulled out from a badger sett by a terrier but she had been very gentle with it and had taken it straight to her owners. Only a matter of a few days old, the tiny cub was brought into us.

Aquarius - only about a week old

feeding on a small syringe to start with

I really must wear my glasses more often as I mistook the cub for a female and called it Crocus, a nice spring name but the next day, when I toileted the cub I realised the urine was coming from some where different ! She quickly became he and is now called Aquarius.

Lorrie, our newest member of staff, is helping me with the badger cub. All good practise for them to gain experience in rearing the cubs. Aquarius has grown so much in a matter of a few days and is now able to scratch with his back leg, move his ears and his eyes are starting to open. They normally would not open until the cub is 5 weeks old but as the cub is in daylight, the eyes often open sooner when in rehab.

Lorrie with Aquarius

 It’s been a lovely sunny day today and out in the car, it was great to see the catkins in the hedgerow. Oh! that all our countryside could be a safe and viable place for our wildlife to survive in.