Animal Sanctuary goes quackers

It’s been rather hectic at the animal sanctuary with lots of admissions to our wildlife hospital, so it’s been all Wildlife Angels on deck and very little time for updates. The phone has been ringing non stop. We do apologise for not keeping you in the loop with more updates. Our social media has taken a back seat while we tend to babies and injuries. We’ll have a lot more content soon on our website as Laura gets to grips with content posting direct to our site – she’s a dab hand at Facebook and Instagram but it’s taking a little while to learn how to use our content manager on petsamaritans.co.uk.

It was lovely to see Wildlife Angels attending our open days. The support has been amazing and they are proving to be a great success. If you havent joined us yet or haven’t heard about our Wildlife Angels program, head on over to our sign up page and become a member. It’s a great way to support our work and wildlife too!

Lets get to some updates. Ducks and Ducklings have been front and centre with lots of admissions from around Derbyshire. From a local KFC duckling rescue to Chesterfield Royal Hospital, it’s been non stop bath times and feeding for these little wonders.

Mrs Robinson and her nine little ducklings admitted from the Chesterfield Royal Robinson ward are doing well. She is a wonderful mother and taking great care of her children as they adjust to their new safe home while she rears them.

The staff at the KFC service station spotted a frantic mum duck flying around trying to save her babies. How they arrived there is a mystery but without quick thinking staff they wouldn’t have survived. Unfortunately mum wasn’t able to be caught but the ducklings were gathered up before they were injured and brought into the sanctuary for care. Aren’t they adorable. We’ll continue to look after them until they are ready to be released at a safe location.

What a handsome chap he is!

Tinkerbell and Tigel Lily, two young owls admitted to the hospital are putting on weight and making good progress on their way to being released back into the wild. Owls never cease to amaze us with their ability to adapt to being in our temporary care. Sometimes we have to encourage them to eat and fend for themselves but they soon pick it up. It’s always sad to seem them go as it is easy to become attached to them but back in the wild is the best place for them and it’s so rewarding to see them free again when the time comes.

Have you ever see anything so cute? Olly is a baby stoat who was found on a footpath in Rotherham.

They are remarkable creatures that are related to otters and weasels. Stoats are natural born predators and adept hunters when mature. They are capable of inflicting a lot of damage but their natural tendency is to avoid confrontation. Stoats often live in close proximity to humans but seldom become very aggressive unless provoked. They have orange bodies, black-tipped tail and distinctive bounding gait.

Our hedgehog hospital is in full swing. Lots of reports of hedgehogs out in the day wandering about lethargically. Food and water is a good starting point if you see one out in the hot sun. We’ve seen fly strike more than usual this year and ticks are ever present requiring delicate attention to remove to them from poorly hogs.

We’ve had a few kingfishers into the Wildlife hospital over the years. These delicate birds require special attention and need to be kept very quiet while they recover. This little chap was brought into the sanctuary feeling very under the weather. Fingers are crossed for a full recovery and release back into the wild as soon as possible.

We’ll end our update with a big shout out to the wonderful staff at Tescos who raised a whopping £502.24 for the sanctuary. Every Little Helps and this will go a long way to helping the animals in our care. So a big THANKYOU from the Wildlife Angels for thinking of us.

If you’d like to support us, we’d love to hear from you. You can download logos and media to support your fund raising event from our Media and Logos page here.

So that raps up our slice of Sanctuary Life for this update. Don’t forget we have Wildlife Open days every thursday and Saturday 10am – 12pm. Admission if free for Wildlife Angels and if you haven’t joined us you can sign up on the day.

We”ll leave you with one of Inspiration Animal Quotes

” Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

— Margaret Mead”