Night time rescues on the increase

Volunteer rescuers from East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service (WRAS) are becoming very tired and already starting to struggle as night time call outs start to increase.

At this time of year the organisation always starts to get more nighttime calls, but daytime calls are on the decrease. "This can be a big problem as over all the number of calls decreases but the hours worked increases" said Trevor Week, Rescue Co-ordinator for WRAS.

Monday night Trevor was monitoring a dolphin at Sovereign Harbour through the night up for over 24 hours before going to bed, Tuesday night Trevor and Maz both dealt with road casualties at Uckfield and Brighton during the night, and on Wednesday night Trevor and Tim had to transport a dog attacked deer up to St Tiggywinkles in Buckinghamshire for specialist assessment returning home at 2.30am Thursday morning. Trevor has had just 10 hours sleep in the past three nights.

"The dog attacked deer was transported during the night to keep the stress levels low, with the roads empty the journey time was quicker and temperature was coolering during the night too" said Trevor.

As the nights start to draw in WRAS is issuing a warning to motorists to keep an eye out for wild animals crossing roads. "As it starts to get dark earlier and earlier the animal start to emerge earlier and earlier too in line with dusk becoming earlier as this is quite often a good time to hunt for food. It is not just mammals you need to be careful of either. Birds of prey like to hunt just before dusk and frequently hunt prey on road verges" said Trevor.

WRAS is committed to providing the best possible care but it is only a small organisation.

"Motorists should slow down as it gets dark and keep an eye on where you see animals cross and also where you see dead animals too, these will give you a good idea which locations are potentially dangerous for animals crossing," added Trevor, " the A26, A22 and A27 are notorious locations for badgers, foxes and deer to be hit."

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Press Contact: Trevor Weeks, East Sussex WRAS, 07931 523958 (private).

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