Busiest Evening Ever For WRAS

Partridge collected from New Priory Vets
Partridge collected from New Priory Vets

Volunteer rescuers from East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service have had their busiest evening of rescues ever in their history.

Between 6pm and midnight their rescue line received over 35 calls, resulting in 14 casualties needing rescuing and admitting for care – the other calls were either out of WRAS’s area, or advisory calls like concerns over fledglings.

One of the Hedgehogs by WRAS.
One of the Hedgehogs by WRAS.

The casualties rescued were:

An emaciated Red Legged Partridge and an injured sparrow from New Priory Veterinary Hospital in Brighton;

A window Strike jackdaw in Eastbourne;

A grounded Jackdaw in Hamsey Crescent Lewes;

A road Casualty Blackbird from Micklefield Way Seaford;

Road Casualty Blackbird from Seaford.
Road Casualty Blackbird from Seaford.

An injured sparrow from South Street Lewes;

A Wren with an injured leg from Bodle Street Green;

A collapsed wood pigeon from Hurst Road Eastbourne possible road casualty;

A young crow with vitamin deficiencies from Old Orchard Road, Eastbourne;

A hedgehog out during day light in South Chailey;

Injured Sparrow Lewes.
Injured Sparrow Lewes.

A hedgehog out during day light with a head tilt in Motcombe Road, Eastbourne;

A hedgehog out during day light in Barcombe;

A very chesty hedgehog from Upper Sherwood Road, Seaford.

A road casualty Fox cub on the A259 Newhaven.

Volunteers Chris Riddington, Trevor Weeks, Daryl Farmer, Kirsti Sibbald, Tony Neads, Andrew Loftus and Charlotte Humphrey have been working extremely hard to cover all the calls as well as, answer the phones and deal with the admissions including emergency first aid and treatment at WRAS’s Casualty Centre at Whitesmith.

WRAS’s rescuers finally finish and returned home at 1am.  “Its is very exhausting at this time of year as we are constantly losing sleep, and you struggling to find time to recuperate, so it builds up. There are days when you don’t even get a chance to stop and eat anything.  Even if we are not out on rescues or treating casualties, we have the paperwork to deal with which comes with each casualty” said Trevor, “It really varies from day to day too, so it is really difficult to plan for the busy days.”

Poorly Young Crow from Eastbourne.
Poorly Young Crow from Eastbourne.

The increase in casualties always occurs at this time of year. “This is the highest number of calls and casualties we have had to deal with in an evening before, we had to draft in additional volunteers to help deal with the workload meaning Duty Manager Chris Riddington and I ended up working over 17 hours each” said Trevor.

“We believe the unusually cold nights is not helping many of the young wildlife we are having to admit, and we even have a couple of hedgehogs still hibernating!” Added Trevor.

WRAS receives up to 110 phone calls a day during the busy period.  WRAS had luckily managed to release a Chaffinch, a greenfinch, wood pigeon, blackbird and woodpecker during the day today which had freed up some cages. WRAS now has 184 casualties in care either at its Casualty Centre at Whitesmith or at a variety of outdoor pens round the county.

Including:

3 rodents

9 Starlings

3 Collared Doves

9 Magpies

33 Ducklings

1 Rabbit

1 Partridge

9 Foxes

6 Jackdaws

13 Hedgehogs

13 Blackbirds

6 Sparrows

6 Dunnocks

23 Feral Pigeons

9 Crows

13 Wood Pigeons

3 Tawny Owls

3 Gulls

1 Chaffinch

8 Blue Tits

4 Robins

2 Finches

3 Wrens

3 Squirrels

Baby Hedgehog admitted today from Eastbourne.
Baby Hedgehog admitted today from Eastbourne.

WRAS is only a small local charity but is managing to undertake a remarkable amount of work and is celebrating founder Trevor Weeks’ 30th year and the Charities 20th year helping wildlife.

“This has been an amazingly busy year for us. Virtually all wildlife hospitals across the country end up having to close their doors to new admissions at some point during the busy season, WRAS has not had to do that yet, but is coming close to it. We have had to stop certain species being admitted due to limited facilities for

Road Casualty Fox Cub from Hailsham.
Road Casualty Fox Cub from Hailsham.

certain species, but otherwise we are coping much better than previously. Largely thanks to our expansion this winter paid for by a legacy which was received” said Trevor.

WRAS is not a rich charity and relies on donation in order to keep the charity running. “Funding is always tight and we need to people to continue donating and setting up monthly donations so we can keep things running as smoothly as possible.” Added Trevor.

To make a donation please visit www.wildlifeambulance.org.

Photos and videos of daily updates appear on WRAS’s facebook page at www.facebook.com/wildlifeambulance.

 

 

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